Joint Efforts Towards Treating Paralysis
EPFL scientists Stéphanie Lacour and Grégoire Courtine report on the status of their research and share their vision about the future of wearable neuroprosthetics at this year's edition of South by South West in Austin, Texas, on March 12th. Courtine shares some preliminary impressions about clinical trials addressing paralysis that are currently underway at the Lausanne University Hospital. Scientists Stéphanie Lacour and Grégoire Courtine of Ecole polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland are paving the way for new, intelligent neuroprosthetics that may one day assist people with neurological dysfunction in everyday tasks. Neuroprosthetic devices are electronics that communicate with the nervous system, and the scientists are working together to translate their findings from the lab to the clinic. Clinical trials currently underway In the lab, Grégoire Courtine recently showed that paralyzed primates could walk again with the assistance of a smart neuroprosthetic system he calls the 'brain-spine interface'. This wireless - fully wearable - neuroprosthetic interface essentially decodes brain signals about walking and stimulates the spinal cord to contract the correct group of leg muscles to enact the intended walking movements - without any therapeutic training. He also showed in 2012 that paralyzed rats could recover after spinal cord injury after a few weeks of rehabilitation, combining electro-chemical stimulation and physiotherapy that uses a robotic harness.
