US researchers help paralysed man regain functional arm movement

In the first instance of its kind, researches helped a paralysed man regain functional arm movement. The man is now able to feed himself using his own hand as a result of new technology that reconnected his brain with his muscles.

Quadriplegic Bill Kochevar, was left completely paralysed from the shoulders down from a severe spinal cord injury in a bicycle accident eight years ago.

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University used an implanted neuro-prosthesis that can decode brain signals and transmit them to sensors in the arm to help him regain movement in his hand and arm.

Though the experimental technology has so far  been tested in one person, according to the researchers it was a major advancement and the first successful effort to restore brain-controlled reaching and grasping in a person with complete paralysis.

''This is a big step,'' Bob Kirsch, chair of Case Western Reserve's Department of Biomedical Engineering, executive director of the FES Center and senior author of the research, told CBS News. ''We've shown the feasibility of recording someone's movement intentions and then making their own arm make those movements.''

''It was amazing because I thought about moving my arm and it did,'' Kochevar said in a video released by Case Western. ''I could move it in and out, up and down.''

The research is described in a paper published yesterday in The Lancet.

According to assistant professor Abidemi Bolu Ajiboye, an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University, the research may change the lives of many with spinal cord injuries, CNN reported.

Though it would take time for the technology to be available to patients, Ajiboye believed that all the technical hurdles could be overcome within five to 10 years. "We actually have a handle on everything that we need. There are no significant novel discoveries we need to make for the system," he said.