The paths of these two stars have intersected on several occasions due to their association with the luxury brand Bulgari
entertainment6 hours ago
A French man paralysed in a night club accident can walk again thanks to a brain-controlled exoskeleton in what scientists said on Wednesday was a breakthrough providing hope to tetraplegics seeking to regain movement.
The patient trained for months, harnessing his brain signals to control a computer-simulated avatar to perform basic movements before using the robot device to walk.
Doctors who conducted the trial cautioned that the device is years away from being publicly available but stressed that it had "the potential to improve patients' quality of life and autonomy".
The man involved, identified only as Thibault, a 28-year-old from Lyon, said the technology had given him a new lease of life. Four years ago that life changed forever when he fell 12 metres (40 feet) from a balcony while on a night out, severing his spinal chord and leaving him paralysed from the shoulders down. "When you're in my position, when you can't do anything with your body... I wanted to do something with my brain," Thibault said.
Training on a video-game avatar system for months to acquire the skills needed to operate the exoskeleton, he said he had to "relearn" natural movements from scratch.
"I can't go home tomorrow in my exoskeleton, but I've got to a point where I can walk. I walk when I want and I stop when I want."
Cervical spinal cord injury leaves around 20 per cent of patients paralysed in all four limbs and is the most severe injury of its kind.
"The brain is still capable of generating commands that would normally move the arms and legs, there's just nothing to carry them out," said Alim-Louis Benabid, professor emeritus at Grenoble and lead author of the study published in The Lancet Neurology.
A team of experts from the Hospital of Grenoble Alpes, biomedical firm Cinatech and the CEA research centre started by implanting two recording devices either side of Thibault's head, between the brain and the skin.
These read his sensorimotor cortex - the area that controls motor function.
Each decoder transmits the brain signals which are then translated by an algorithm into the movements the patient has thought about. It is this system that sends physical commands that the exoskeleton executes.
Thibault used the avatar and video game to think about performing basic physical tasks such as walking, and reaching out to touch objects. Using the avatar, video game and exoskeleton combined, he was able to cover the length of one and a half football pitches over the course of many sessions.
Several previous studies have used implants to stimulate muscles in patients' own bodies, but the Grenoble study is the first to use brain signals to control a robot exoskeleton.
Experts involved in the research say it could potentially lead to brain-controlled wheelchairs for paralysed patients. "This isn't about turning man into machine but about responding to a medical problem," said Benabid. "We're talking about 'repaired man', not 'augmented man'.
The paths of these two stars have intersected on several occasions due to their association with the luxury brand Bulgari
entertainment6 hours ago
The students' demands range from a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas to calls for universities to stop investing in Israeli enterprises
world6 hours ago
Despite Kohli's flowing form ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, pundits have raised concerns over his strike-rate
cricket6 hours ago
Saudi Arabia has begun to explore extracting lithium from sea water
business7 hours ago
Speaking after meeting Lebanese leaders, French foreign minister says there had been "a lot of progress" over the French proposals
mena7 hours ago
The three-shot winner from Japan says he is aiming to become a member of the PGA Tour in the future
sports7 hours ago
Big-hitting Nienaber falters at the finish to settle for secondwhile former Abu Dhabi resident David Horsey takes the third spot at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club
sports7 hours ago
The UAE is India's second-largest export destination after the US
economy8 hours ago