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| Science & Technology |
| Paralysed man who was the first to walk again thanks to breakthrough AI system reveals how it has now fulfilled his dream of standing at the bar with his friends |
| 2023-08-16 |
| [Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A paralysed man who was the first to walk again due to an Artificial Intelligence system has revealed how his dream of standing at the bar with friends was fulfilled as he enjoys renewed freedom. Last week, Gert-Jan Oskam - supported by a walker - took several steps thanks to an AI system which reads his thoughts and instructs his legs to move. Swiss researchers spent ten years developing the technology, but said it wouldn't have been possible without Oskam's extraordinary will to walk again. 'It's never been in my nature to sit still,' Oskam told The Times. The technology has meant he's achieved a dream of his and is now able to stand at the bar and have a beer with his friends - to be able to feel like he is part of the conversation. Oksam now hopes that thousands of other patients with spinal injuries can follow suit. Incredible moment paralysed man walks for first time with implant Oskam, 40, from the Netherlands, suffered a devastating bicycle accident while working in Beijing, China in 2011. He was told he 'didn't have a fighting chance' of walking again. Spinal cord injuries can interrupt the communication between the brain and the region of the spinal cord that controls walking, leading to paralysis. Professor Jocelyne Bloch, a neurosurgeon at Lausanne University Hospital: 'As a doctor I was taught that if a patient with a spinal cord injury did not recover in six months, then they would be in a wheelchair for ever.' 'This paradigm has now changed,' he added. The new system means Oskam's thoughts are translated into movement through a 'digital bridge' created by Neuroscientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne (EPFL). One implant is placed in the patient's brain, above the region responsible for leg movements. Meanwhile, the second is placed on the region of the spinal cord that controls leg movement. The brain signals are then converted into sequences of electrical stimulation of the spinal cord. In turn, this activates the leg muscles to achieve the desired movement. Noël Keijsers, who is a senior researcher at Sint Maartenskliniek and has worked with Oskam closely, said: 'It's physically and mentally demanding. The technology is nothing without the right person.' |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #4 I can't wait for the part where they discover which synapses to fry to make a person unable to lie. That will make lots of things interesting. |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2023-08-16 19:27 |
| #3 Now they have been working on this stuff way longer than Musk has been famous, but I'm glad to see that it's reaching the stage of practical use. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2023-08-16 18:36 |
| #2 Makes me smile =) |
| Posted by: mossomo 2023-08-16 14:59 |
| #1 This is the other side of all the crap Musk has been getting for his Neurolink project. |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2023-08-16 10:14 |