A couple of monkeys back to walking thanks to device – Milenio.com

A wireless device that sends signals from the brain to bypass a spinal cord lesion allowed two monkeys to regain control of the lower limbs paralyzed, according to a report published this Wednesday by the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne.

WE RECOMMEND: is The food more exciting than sex?

Called interface neuroprostético, the device was developed by an international team led by researchers from the EPFL, a precise statement, and, coming soon, will be able to be proven to treat cases of paralysis in humans.

“For the first time, I can imagine a patient completely paralyzed to be able to move your legs through this interface brain-spine”, says Jocelyne Bloch, neurocirujana of the University Hospital of Lausanne, cited in the statement.

This device consists of implants with a decoder that receives signals from the part of the motor cortex of brain responsible for the movements.

From there, the sends, via wireless, to the lumbar region of the spine that activates the muscles of the leg for walking.

In the two cases of the monkeys, the interface was unable to send the motion instructions in disregard of the damaged area of the spine that causes paralysis, explains the EPFL.

One of the monkeys partially recovered the use of his leg paralyzed in the first week after implantation of the device, without the need of therapy.

WE RECOMMEND: a Small implant will make the lame able to walk again

The other took two weeks to achieve the same result, explains the weekly journal Nature, published Wednesday the results of the experience.

According to the scientist, Andrew Jackson, of the university of Newcastle (GB), cited by Nature, it is possible “that they can make the first clinical trials” in the man “before the end of this decade.”

the idea of The interface was conceived at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne and developed with international participation of, among others, the american university, Brown, the German Institute Fraunhofer ICT-IMM and the group of technology medical Medtronic.

MRF