Twelve years ago, a cycling accident left Gert-Jan Oskam, now 40, with paralysed legs and partially paralysed arms, after his spinal cord was damaged in his neck. But these days, Oskam is back on his feet and walking, thanks to a device that creates a ‘digital bridge’ between his brain and the nerves below his injury.

The implant has been life-changing, says Oskam. “Last week, there was something that needed to be painted and there was nobody to help me. So I took the walker and the paint, and I did it myself while I was standing,” he says.[1]

Figure 1. A paralysed man can walk thanks to a brain-spine interface

A paralysed man can walk thanks to a brain-spine interface is shown in figure 1. Oskam took part in a trial in 2018 that showed, with intensive training, technology to stimulate the spine with electrical impulses could help people with spinal cord injuries to walk again, although, after three years, his improvements had plateaued.

His original spinal implant has been paired with two disc-shaped implants inserted into his skull so that two 64-electrode grids rest against the membrane covering the brain.

Now when Oskam thinks about walking, the skull implants detect electrical activity in the cortex, the outer layer of the brain.

“To walk, the brain must send a command to the region of the spinal cord responsible for the control of movements. When it’s a spinal cord injury this communication is interrupted,” said Professor Gregoire Courtine, a neuroscientist at EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.[2]

Researchers said the next advancement would be to miniaturize the hardware needed to run the interface. Currently, Oskam carries it in a backpack. Researchers are also working to see if similar devices can restore arm movement.

Researchers said the next advancement would be to miniaturize the hardware needed to run the interface. Currently, Oskam carries it in a backpack. Researchers are also working to see if similar devices can restore arm movement.

The researchers who helped Oskam believe the technology they've employed can, in the future, restore movement in arms and hands as well. They also think that, with time and resources, they can use the advancement to help stroke patients. [3]

References:

1. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/brain-spine-interface-allows-paralysed-man-to-walk-using-his-thoughts/
2. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/25/paralysed-man-walks-with-device-that-connects-brain-spinal-cord
3. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/paralyzed-man-walks-again-using-implants-connecting-brain-with-spinal-cord/

Cite this article:

Gokula Nandhini K (2023), Using his thoughts, a paralysed man can walk thanks to a brain-spine interface, Anatechmaz ,pp 198