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Spinal Implant Helps Three Paralyzed Men Walk Again (bbc.com)

Doctors in Switzerland have used an electrical device to help three paralyzed men walk again. The device was inserted around the men's spines to boost the signals from their brains to their legs. The study has been published in the journal Nature. The BBC reports: The first patient to be treated was 30-year-old Swiss man David M'zee, who suffered a severe spinal injury seven years ago in a sporting accident. David's doctor said he would never walk again. However, thanks to an electrical implant developed by a team at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL), he can walk more than half a mile with the implant turned on. Two other men have also managed to walk again, to varying degrees. Gertan Oskan, a 35-year-old engineer from the Netherlands, was knocked over by a car seven years ago. His doctors told him on his birthday that he would be paralyzed for life. He is now beginning to regain some movement. Sebastian Tobler, a 48-year-old man from Germany, was a keen cyclist who loved being out in the countryside before he was knocked off his bike. Now he's back on a specially adapted bike that is powered mostly by his hands -- but also partly by his legs.

25 comments

  1. Sometimes it is nice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    to read some positive news....

    1. Re:Sometimes it is nice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I bet those dudes were like "BOOYAH! I can walk again!"

      Or at least I hope they did.

    2. Re:Sometimes it is nice... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36PDeN9NRZ0

  2. Re: Cock so hard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. Does it often contain graphical features?

  3. Re:Cock so hard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Must be the nerve amplifiers, amplifying signals from the head to the other head between the legs.

    If you are hard and can't be scratched by black cats, you ought to go here to get that stiffness relaxed: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wik...

    Captcha: stickily (you know what that means)

  4. Original hipster. by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Funny

    Pff... the J-man healed paralyzed men before it was cool. ;)

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    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re: Original hipster. by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but he's been on a 2000 year sabbatical. If he wants the coveted employee of the year award again, all I have to say to him is, "what have you done for me lately?"

  5. Does it go up to 11? by jfdavis668 · · Score: 2

    Obviously there was a spinal tap involved.

  6. Nice! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Always loved their music! Glad to see it doing some good in the world!

  7. Quarter of a mile by Frankie70 · · Score: 2

    > he can walk more than half a mile with the implant turned on.

    Let's hope he remembered to turn back after a quarter of a mile.

    1. Re:Quarter of a mile by Cro+Magnon · · Score: 1

      Heh! My GF once told me about a walk she took with her sister. At the time my GF was more used to walking than her sister, and the sister wanted to walk father, and the GF was saying "You realize we have to walk back too?", but the sister didn't listen (must run in the family ;) ) Afterward, the sister was whining, "I don't ever want to walk again!".

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  8. Next question: Electrode endurance by gweihir · · Score: 2

    Because that has been the killer for all kinds of implants interfacing nerves so far.

    It is however good to know that if electrode endurance gets solved, there will be some really useful things that will become viable outside of limited experiments.

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    1. Re:Next question: Electrode endurance by mikael · · Score: 1

      They did try using electrodes to stimulate muscles directly back in the 1980's. But all those wires started to corrode in the saline environment of the human body, leading to deep infections and radical surgery.

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  9. isn't this more promising? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
  10. Nederlander doctors have terrible bedside manner by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    His doctors told him on his birthday that he would be paralyzed for life.

    That's brutal

  11. Awesome :) by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

    n/t

  12. Remarkable by Martin+S. · · Score: 1

    I watched this report last night and it was a really remarkable step, no pun intended. It was very clear from what the researchers were saying that this is very much just the beginning. That further development and refinement of both the medicine technology would be possible. Miniaturisation, increased sensitivity of the equipment, earlier intervention were all postulated as likely productive avenues of improvement.

  13. One implant helps three men? by drinkypoo · · Score: 0

    Doctors in Switzerland have used an electrical device to help three paralyzed men walk again.

    Wow, one electrical device helped three men? Which one of them did they put it into, and how did it help the other two?

    The device was inserted around the men's spines

    One device was implanted into all three men? Are they now all linked together as one six-legged, six-armed, three-headed man?

    The correct headline is Spinal Implants Help Three Paralyzed Men Walk Again. HTH, HAND!

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  14. More info... by msc.buff · · Score: 1

    is available in the documentary: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6499752/

  15. Unfortunately, they must share a spine. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And you thought Halloween was over.

  16. Re: Nederlander doctors have terrible bedside mann by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Should they have lied to him instead?