Photo: Klaus Nielsen | Pexels
A man with Parkinson's disease has regained the ability to walk after physicians implanted a small device into his spinal cord that sends signals to his legs. Marc, 62, is the first and only person to have received the new spinal neuroprosthesis. He received an implant 20 years ago that delivered deep brain stimulation, but gradually, neurological problems left him unable to get around. Then, in 2021, he enrolled in a clinical trial at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and Lausanne University Hospital. When he wants to take a walk, Marc pushes a button on a remote control that sends wireless signals to the neurostimulator. It then sends bursts of electrical signals that stimulate the lumbosacral spinal cord, a region of the lower spine that activates leg muscles.
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