Wireless Implant Could Cure Paralysis In Future

Monkey with spinal cord damage that paralyzed one leg quickly regained the ability to walk with a wireless connection from the brain to the spinal cord below the injury. In recent years, scientists have achieved brain control of robotic hands, helped a paralyzed man regain use of a hand through a chip in his brain and used electrical stimulation of nerves in heal paralyzed rats. The system is unusual because it concentrates on the lower body, and is wireless rather than tethered to a computer. It utilizes new developments in brain recording and in nerve stimulation. It does require a computer to decode and translate brain signals and send them to the spinal cord. Researchers of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology said that he hoped the system he and his colleagues developed could be transferred “in the next 10 years” to humans for therapy that would aid in rehabilitation. He emphasized the goal was better rehabilitation, not a science fiction fix for paralysis. People are not going to walk in the streets with a brain spine interface. Among the reasons why the system is not a miracle fix for paralysis is that it relays only impulses to extend and bend the leg at the right time to fit into a four legged gait, not other, more subtle movements involving changes in direction or navigating through obstacles. Humans present different challenges, for instance, in terms of balance in two legs. Researcher said that prior to this development 10 years of research in rodents was necessary. One of the reasons that only one leg was paralyzed is that four legged animals can function even without the use of one leg and retain bladder and bowel control, whereas complete severing of the spinal cord can be devastating for an animal’s life. The wireless sensor was developed by David Broton of Brown University. Combined with microelectrodes, it records and transmits impulses in the part of the brain where signals to move the leg originate. He said that one of the reasons the system might be helpful in rehabilitation was that it strengthened remaining connections between parts of the spinal cord and the injured limb. The brain recording device was combined with electrical stimulation to an area just outside the spinal cord that conveyed signals to the reflex system. The spinal cord has its own system for receiving input from the legs and responding. Researcher said that one crucial part was timing. “If the brain says it wants that limb to move, it must happen within milliseconds for that connection to strengthen.”