Paralyzed Man Walks Again (Thanks to Science)!

Thanks to an implant developed by a team of Swiss researchers, a paralyzed man whose spinal cord was severed managed to walk again, giving hope to all the physically handicapped people.

“It is a critical step to improve people’s quality of life,” says Prof Grégoire Courtine, who led the team that developed the technology at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. “We are going to empower people. We are going to give them the ability to stand, to take some steps. It is a significant improvement.”

The research explains how a neurosurgeon inserted the electrical implant and expertly attached electrodes to individual nerve fibers in the patient’s spine, giving the man a chance to walk freely for the first time in five years. The implant sends signals to the legs, in lieu of the brain. Nine people have received the implant and mostly use it to practice walking, exercising their muscles, and improving their health.