Paralysed man walks again with brain-controlled exoskeleton

A patient with tetraplegia walking using an exoskeleton in Grenoble, France. — Fonds De Dotation Clinatec/La Breche/Handout via Reuters

LONDON: A man paralysed from the shoulders down has been able to walk using a pioneering four-limb robotic system, or exoskeleton, that is commanded and controlled by signals from his brain.

With a ceiling-mounted harness for balance, the 28-year-old tetraplegic patient used a system of sensors implanted near his brain to send messages to move all four of his paralyzed limbs after a two-year-long trial of the whole-body exoskeleton.