‘Digital bridge’ allows paralysed man to walk again

A man who was paralysed in a cycling accident in 2011 has been able to stand and walk with an aid after doctors implanted a device that reads his brain waves and sends instructions to his spine to move the right muscles.

Gert-Jan Oskam, 40, was told he would never walk again after breaking his neck in an accident, but has climbed stairs and walked for more than 100 metres at a time since having the operation. “A few months ago, I was able, for the first time after 10 years, to stand up and have a beer with my friends,” said Oskam, who is from the Netherlands.

The “digital bridge” is the latest from a team of neuroscientists in Switzerland who are developing brain-machine interfaces to overcome paralysis.