Man, 48, paralysed from the chest down can now feed himself thanks to game-changing brain implant that’s boosted his arm strength by 86%
A man who was paralysed from the chest down is now able to feed himself and feel the sensation of touch after a revolutionary brain implant ‘rewired’ his nervous system.
Keith Thomas, 48, from New York, broke his neck in July 2020 after diving into a swimming pool.
He regained consciousness in hospital to find that he ‘couldn’t even move.’
The following October, he joined a clinical trial which saw researchers implant a computer chip into his brain, which has not only helped him regain control of his arms and hands, but also partially restored his sense of touch.
Now, even when the device is turned off, he can lift his arm to wipe his own face, feel his sister’s hand and stroke his pet dog – in an ‘encouraging’ breakthrough for paralysis patients.
Publishing their findings in the journal Nature, Professor Chad Bouton, from the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, said: ‘For me this is an incredible moment.
‘For years, we have been wanting to really tackle the restoration of movement and the sense of touch and bring those together and we’ve also wanted to create lasting effects.
‘I think we’re going to continue to see progress and I think it’ll be applicable to the millions of folks around the world who really need this technology.’
Thomas can now move his arms and hands and feel sensation of touch after being fitted with a device that bypasses his spinal cord injury
When Thomas was fitted with the device in 2021 – which uses electrodes implanted in his brain to detect when he wants to move his arms – he couldn’t lift his arms at all.
Now, after 35 weeks of training with the device, the strength in his right arm has increased by 86 per cent, while his left is 62 per cent stronger, enabling him to feed himself and drink from a cup.
In the tests, Thomas was even able to handle delicate objects such as egg shells.
Thomas was also fitted with pressure sensors on his hands, fingers and thumb which monitor contact with objects and send signals back to the implant to stimulate the feeling of touch.
This technique, known as cortical mirroring, has allowed Thomas to regain a sense of touch in his right wrist – a region that had been numb since the accident.
‘In a recent follow up, it was found these gains were still present after more than two years,’ Prof Bouton added.
Whilst it is unclear exactly how much function and sensation the brain-computer interface can restore to paralysed patients, researchers say Thomas’ results are ‘incredibly encouraging’.
Further research is now needed to see how it will benefit patients with different spinal cord injuries.
The spinal cord carries electrical messages from the brain to the rest of the body. But if there is any damage to the cord, then the message will not get through.
People with spinal cord injuries can lose all movement and sensation below the injury.
