[E211]Paraplegic patient makes medical history as he uses mind……

Paraplegic patient makes medical history as he uses mind control to walk again

A paraplegic[下身麻痹患者] confined to[局限于] a wheelchair five years ago is able to walk again after doctors reconnected his brain and legs. It is the first time a patient paralysed[瘫痪的；麻痹的；惊呆的] from the waist[腰，腰部] down after a spinal cord injury[脊髓受伤，脊椎损伤] has been able to walk without relying on manually operated robotic limbs[假肢]. The medical marvel was made possible by transmitting signals from the 26-year-old American’s brain to electrodes placed around both knees.

We showed that you can restore intuitive[恢复知觉], brain-controlled walking after a complete spinal cord injury.

Researcher Dr An Do, from the University of California at Irvine

The “neural bypass[神经搭桥]” procedure used a bluetooth connection to transmit brainwave[脑电波；灵感] signals wirelessly from a cap[帽子] worn by the patient to a computer. After decoding[解码] the brainwave patterns the computer sent command messages to a belt-mounted microcontroller worn around the man’s waist. This, in turn, fired the trigger impulses[触发脉冲] that activated the leg muscles. After extensive training, the man managed to step falteringly[蹒跚，踉跄；摇晃，摇摆] along a 4m (12ft) course while a harness and walking frame[助行架] prevented him from falling. In future, researches hope the electrode cap used in the study to record brain signals can be replaced by hidden implants.

Even after years of paralysis the brain can still generate robust brain waves that can be harnessed to enable basic walking.

Dr An Do