AI-assisted brain and spine implants helped a paralyzed man control his legs again

In a groundbreaking new study published earlier this month in the journal Nature, a team of neuroscientists and other researchers detail how electrical devices implanted into the brain and spinal cord of a paralyzed man have helped him walk and even climb stars. The implants communicate wirelessly and fuse together two experimental technologies that are being developed to treat paralysis. One of the devices is inserted into the skull and sits above the brain’s surface. It decodes the patterns involved in walking and sends a signal to the second device that is implanted in the spinal cord. The spinal cord is then stimulated by the electrodes in a precise sequence that activates the leg muscles needed to walk.