Paralyzed Man Walks Again After A Bluetooth Implant Reconnects His Brain & Spine

In 2011, Gert-Jan Oskam got into a motorcycle accident in China that paralyzed his legs, arms, and torso. Now, 12 years later, thanks to a Bluetooth-enabled implant, he has just retaken his first steps.
 
The device is part of a project from a team of neuroscientists from Switzerland who have been trying to find a way to use wireless signals to reissue a connection between the brain and the muscles after they were severed from the spinal cord nerves.
 
During his accident, Oskam broke his neck, losing the connection between his spine and brain.

The implant could read his brain and send his thoughts via a “digital bridge” into his spine so that the right muscles could move again. After the operation, he could climb stairs again and walk for more than 100 meters (328 feet) at a time, albeit with it turned on.
 
In the first trial, Oskam was able to perform rhythmic steps by sending signals from a computer to his spinal cord. However, regarding autonomy, it didn’t provide much as he was controlled mainly through external sensors and buttons. In a recent update to the study, Professor Jocelyne Bloch, a neurosurgeon at the Lausanne University Hospital, surgically installed electrodes onto Oskam’s brain to pick up on neural activity when he tries to move his legs. These thoughts were then processed by an algorithm and translated into pulses sent to other electrodes in his spine.
 
Of course, as most know, if you want to flex your feet or move your knees, it starts as a subconscious thought before the signals are sent out, and the correct muscle group starts to move. But when that connection is lost, you can’t control our limbs. Oskam noted in a report to Nature that the electrodes allowed him to recreate more natural movements when standing and walking, as he could now use this thought again to control his body.

 
 The digital bridge has also allowed him to go out and have a beer with his friends in the Netherlands, where he’s from. Not only that, but it has also aided him in his rehabilitation. After the accident, Oskam had not severed all of the nerves in his spine, and thanks to training sessions with the implant, he regained some control over his legs even when the device was turned off.

Professor Grégoire Courtine from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne posited that this was possible, as when the device helps bridge the brain and spine back together, it can regenerate spinal nerves and give patients some control of their bodies again.
 
Overall, the study could aid stroke patients, and other paralyzed individuals to recover control over their limbs and bladder. Although, arm and hand movements might be a little more complicated as these require more complex instructions from the body.
 
Lastly, as Oskam incurred his injury over a decade ago, the study determines that patients with more recent afflictions could even fare better than he has in recovery.

[via The Guardian and CNN, Photo 67755249 © Chrischrisw | Dreamstime.com]