Michel Roccati lost all feeling in his legs and movement after a 2017 motorcycle accident. Now, thanks to Prof Grégoire Courtine, a neuroscientist at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne, and Prof Jocelyne Bloch, a neurosurgeon at Lausanne university hospital, Roccati and two other patients can walk, run, ride a bike and even kick their legs.
The professors devised a system for implanting electrodes in the spines of paralysed persons. An iPad can remotely activate electrical stimulation to certain spinal cord nerves, which control certain muscles. According to the team, all three patients were able stand within hours.
“Thanks to this technology, we’ve been able to target individuals with the most serious spinal cord injuries,” Courtine told the Guardian.
Image by Henry and Co.
