When Michel Rocatti completely severed his spinal cord in a 2017 motorcycle accident, he permanently lost all sensation in and control over his legs. For years, Rocatti was unable to walk—until an experimental implant was surgically embedded into his spine, re-completing the broken biological circuit between his spinal cord and the severed nerves, The Guardian reports.
When prompted, the device sends activity-specific pulses of electricity to various nerves that were cut off from the central nervous system, allowing the Rocatti and other paralyzed people to send the appropriate stimulation and instructions to their legs. Rocatti and the other two participants in an ongoing clinical trial were able to stand, walk, use bicycle pedals, and kick their legs in a swimming pool within hours of having the flexible, multi-electrode device embedded into their spines, according to research published Monday (February 7) in Nature Medicine. The device and software, developed by researchers ...
