Monkeys with paralysing spinal injuries have been able to walk again thanks to a groundbreaking brain implant - and scientists have high hopes for its implications for humans.
The neuroprosthetic interface was used to form a wireless bridge between the brain and spine of the primates .
At least two regained control of their limbs following the "brain-spine interface" being fitted.
And now the experimental neuroscientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) hope that it could have "promising and exciting" applications for humans who have sustained spinal injuries, according to Reuters .
Jocelyne Bloch, a neurosurgeon at the Lausanne University Hospital who carried out the experiments, told Reuters: "The link between the decoding of the brain and the stimulation of the spinal cord – to make this communication exist – is completely new."
"For the first time, I can imagine a completely paralysed patient able to move their legs through this brain-spine interface."
Neuroscientist Gregoire Courtine, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) added that "it may take several years before this intervention can become a therapy for humans."
Publishing their results in the journal Nature, the study used microelectrode arrays implanted in the brain of the paralysed monkeys.
These picked up and decoded the signals that had earlier been associated with leg movement, which were then sent wirelessly to devices that generate electric pulses in the lower spine - triggering muscles in the monkeys' legs into motion.
"We developed an implantable, wireless system that operates in real-time and enabled a primate to behave freely, without the constraint of tethered electronics," said Courtine.
"We understood how to extract brain signals that encode flexion and extension movements of the leg with a mathematical algorithm. We then linked the decoded signals to the stimulation of specific hotspots in the spinal cord that induced the walking movement."
Previous attempts to repair damaged spinal cords have focused on stem cell therapy or combinations of electrical and chemical stimulation of the cord.
Courtine's clinical trial in the CHUV University Hospital of Lausanne has seen two people implanted with the electric-pulse generators implanted in their lower spines, but the microelectrode arrays will not be place in their brains at this time, meaning they will not be able to control the movement themselves.
Previous attempts to repair damaged spinal cords have focused on stem cell therapy or combinations of electrical and chemical stimulation of the cord.
Courtine's clinical trial in the CHUV University Hospital of Lausanne has seen two people implanted with the electric-pulse generators implanted in their lower spines, but the microelectrode arrays will not be place in their brains at this time, meaning they will not be able to control the movement themselves.
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