An electric implant helps a paralyzed man walk the length of a football field
Two new reports suggest that electrically stimulating the spinal cords of accident victims can let them walk again.
New approach: Paralysis is caused when a person’s spinal cord gets injured or severed in an accident. Doctors are testing whether implanting electrical stimulators below the injury can restore people’s ability to take steps.
Long walk: Researchers at the Mayo Clinic say Jered Chinnock, paralyzed at the waist in 2013 while riding a snowmobile, has been able to walk 111 yards with assistance. Mayo reported the results in Nature Medicine and put out a video.
How it works: Nobody is entirely sure, although the electrical shocks must fill in for the missing nerve signals from the brain. Doctors at the University of Louisville reported on four other cases in the New England Journal of Medicine. Some of the patients have been able to go home and get around with a walker.
Next steps: In the future, spinal injury patients may receive brain implants that get connected to stimulators in their spines, restoring the brain-body connection and perhaps enabling fluid movements. This kind of brain-machine interface has already been tested successfully in monkeys.
Deep Dive
Biotechnology and health
Everything you need to know about artificial wombs
Artificial wombs are nearing human trials. But the goal is to save the littlest preemies, not replace the uterus.
The Biggest Questions: What is death?
New neuroscience is challenging our understanding of the dying process—bringing opportunities for the living.
Some deaf children in China can hear after gene therapy treatment
After deafness treatment, Yiyi can hear her mother and dance to the music. But why is it so noisy at night?
Scientists just drafted an incredibly detailed map of the human brain
A massive suite of papers offers a high-res view of the human and non-human primate brain.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.