2023-05-27 07:25:00
Muhammad Reza wrote
Saturday, May 27, 2023 10:25 AM
Science proves every day that the word impossible is no longer included in the dictionary of human life as long as there is continuous development in the means of treatment and technology used to provide medical services for difficult cases, and this is what happened when a man who was paralyzed in a bicycle accident in 2011 was able to stand and walk with assistance, after implanting Doctors use a device that reads his brain waves It sends instructions to his spine to move the right muscles.
Geert-Jan Oscam, 40, was told he would never walk again after breaking his neck in a traffic accident in China, but he has climbed stairs and walked more than 100 meters each time since his operation. For the first time after 10 years of standing and having a beer with my friends, it was great, and I want to use it in my daily life.
The report of the British newspaper on the therapeutic miracle called the “digital bridge” says that it is the latest from a team of neuroscientists in Switzerland who have a long-term program to develop interfaces between the brain and the machine to overcome paralysis, and the project aims to use wireless signals to reconnect the brain with muscles that become useless. when broken Spinal cord nerves.
In a previous experiment, Oscam tested a system that recreated the rhythmic steps of walking by sending signals from a computer to his spinal cord. While the device helped him take several steps at once, the movement was completely automatic and had to be triggered by a button or sensor.
Gert Jan Oscam
For the latest update, Professor Jocelyn Bloch, a neurosurgeon at the University Hospital of Lausanne, has installed electrodes on Oscam’s brain that detect neural activity when he tries to move his legs, and the readings are processed by an algorithm that turns them into impulses, which are sent to other electrodes in his spine, and the impulses work It activates the nerves in the spine, which leads to the operation of the muscles to produce the required movement.
In turn, Professor Gregoire Courtine of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne said: “What we have been able to do is reconnect between the brain and the area of the spinal cord that controls leg movement with a digital bridge,” adding that “the system can pick up Gert Jean’s thoughts and translate those thoughts.” Spinal cord stimulation to re-establish voluntary leg movements.
The Dutchman can walk again
The period of preparing Gert Jan Oscam for the use of the advanced device
The device does not produce quick and smooth steps, but Oscam said that “the implant, described in NatureIt allowed more natural movements than before, because standing and walking began to be controlled by thinking about actions, and the signals stimulated the muscles needed to flex the hip, knee and ankle.
The report notes that the device appears to enhance rehabilitation. After more than 40 training sessions with the implant, Oscam – who did not cut all the nerves in his spine – regained some control of his legs even when the device was turned off. Curtin believes that reconnecting the brain and spine will help. The spine helps to regenerate the spinal nerves, and restore some of the control that the patient has lost.
A device that helps a paralyzed person to walk again
Gert Jan Oskam undergoes training on the device
While the work is still at an early stage, the researchers hope that future miniature devices will help stroke patients and the paralyzed to walk, move their arms and hands, and control other functions, such as the bladder, which are often affected by the spinal cord, while arm and hand movements may be more difficult. Because it is more complicated than walking.
With Oscam showing progress more than a decade after his accident, the team is confident that other patients with more recent injuries can get better. “With Oscam, it’s been over 10 years since the spinal cord injury,” Curtin said. Digital Bridge A few weeks after the spinal cord injury… the potential for recovery will be enormous.”
An illustration of how the device works
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