Brain implants could restore paralysed patients' arm movements

Medical shows the insertion of the lead electrodes into the Neurostimulator (IPG). The stimulator, implanted in the abdomen, connected to electrodes used to stimulate the spinal cord of paralysed patients to help them regain movement. — AFP PHOTO / ONWARD Medical/Marc AMIGUET

WASHINGTON: A paralysed Swiss man has become the first person to test a new technology that reads his thoughts using AI and then transmits signals through his own nervous system to his arms, hands and fingers in order to restore movement.

The treatment, a combination of a brain-computer interface and a spinal implant, had previously allow a paraplegic patient to walk again, a breakthrough that was published in the scientific journal Nature in May.