FRANCE (WFLA/CNN) – A man paralyzed from the shoulders down is now able to walk using a mind-controlled robotic suit.
Sounds like science fiction right?
But it really happened in France.
The man, identified only as Thibault, severed his spinal cord after falling from a balcony.
University of Grenoble researchers implanted recording devices in his head that can transmit signals into movements, which are then executed by a robotic exo-skeleton.
For two years, Thibault has been using a videogame avatar to help it understand his thoughts.
Over the course of the study, he was able to walk the distance of more than one and a half football fields.
Scientists say the technology is an experimental treatment that could help others, after it’s improved.
For more information, check out Friday’s edition of the journal Lancet Neurology.
