‘Bionic spine’ could enable paralysed patients to walk
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2016 2:24 am
A long way off into the future (but in human trials next year), but it was all over the news today and is an interesting story in itself.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/201 ... us-thought
https://www.theguardian.com/science/201 ... us-thought
‘Bionic spine’ could enable paralysed patients to walk using subconscious thought
Australian developers say mind-controlled device, which will be tested in humans next year, is the ‘holy grail’ for bionics researchers
Australian scientists hope that a tiny device just 3cm long and a few millimetres wide will enable paralysed patients to walk again by allowing them to control bionic limbs with the power of subconscious thought.
The new device, dubbed the “bionic spine”, is the size of a small paperclip and will be implanted in three patients at the Royal Melbourne hospital in Victoria next year. The participants will be selected from the Austin Health spinal cord unit, and will be the first humans to trial the device, which so far has only been tested in sheep.
...clip...