Posted on 03/29/2017 1:23:49 PM PDT by JimSEA
Bill Kochevar grabbed a mug of water, drew it to his lips and drank through the straw.
His motions were slow and deliberate, but then Kochevar hadn't moved his right arm or hand for eight years.
And it took some practice to reach and grasp just by thinking about it.
Kochevar, who was paralyzed below his shoulders in a bicycling accident, is believed to be the first person with quadriplegia in the world to have arm and hand movements restored with the help of two temporarily implanted technologies.
A brain-computer interface with recording electrodes under his skull, and a functional electrical stimulation (FES) system* activating his arm and hand, reconnect his brain to paralyzed muscles.
Holding a makeshift handle pierced through a dry sponge, Kochevar scratched the side of his nose with the sponge. He scooped forkfuls of mashed potatoes from a bowl -- perhaps his top goal -- and savored each mouthful.
"For somebody who's been injured eight years and couldn't move, being able to move just that little bit is awesome to me," said Kochevar, 56, of Cleveland. "It's better than I thought it would be."
A video of Kochevar can be found at: https://youtu.be/OHsFkqSM7-A
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
Bump!
Just a little too late for Christopher Reeve, “Superman”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.