New brain-spine interface
Monkey regains control of paralyzed limb with wireless 'brain-spine interface'
In a breakthrough that could have implications for people with spinal injuries, a primate regained control of a paralyzed limb with the help of a brain implant that wirelessly restored communication between its brain and spinal cord.
"This is the first time that you have a connection between the brain and the spinal cord that re-established movements," the study's leader, Grégoire Courtine, a neuroscientist at the École Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland
Scientists have used wireless implants to restore movements before, but in those cases, serious hardware like a prosthetic limb or a mechanical exoskeleton was required.
This new brain-spine interface, on the other hand, uses two surgical implants to wirelessly relay information with no cumbersome technology.