A French man underwent brain surgery by a team in Grenoble. Electrodes are implanted so that it can directly activate an exoskeleton.
The screenplay is worthy of a science fiction novel. And yet, the augmented man is becoming a reality. In Grenoble (Isère), Prof. Alim-Louis Benabid’s team operated on a first quadriplegic patient with a view to installing an exoskeleton. Our colleagues from Science and the Future reveal it at the Neurosurgery Congress WSSFN, which takes place in Berlin (Germany) from June 26 to 29.
The goal is clear: to offer quadriplegic patients a solution that allows them to regain mobility. This is the first time that such a device has been tested in humans. Because the Grenoble University Hospital does not rely only on an exoskeleton. He is also working on an interface that makes the link between the orders given by the brain and the machine that performs the movement.
18 to 40 years old
To achieve this exchange of information, two implants are placed in the brain, between the meninges and the cranium. They are equipped with 64 electrodes, says the magazine. These record brain activity and transmit it to a machine whose algorithm ensures the translation to move the exoskeleton. “We have the authorization to operate on five patients,” explains Prof. Benabid.
Men and women are called upon to come forward to the Grenoble University Hospital. Volunteers must be between the ages of 18 and 40, specifies the sheet of the clinical trial. But several contraindications are listed, in particular a history of depression or alcohol dependence, but also the prescription of anticoagulants or even past brain surgery.
An accomplishment
If the end goal is to get quadriplegics to walk again, the Grenoble researchers will first have to show their feet. After convincing various ethics committees, the team must now demonstrate that this technique is safe for volunteers.
For four years, the first five participants will therefore be scrutinized. Side effects associated with implanting electrodes into the brain will be closely monitored. The pioneers of neurosurgery will also examine the impact of this approach on the control of the exoskeleton and will focus on the quality of life of patients.
This green light marks a major step forward for Grenoble specialists. For more than thirty years, Prof. Benabid has been interested in the manipulation of the brain. With success, since the neurosurgeon is at the origin of the use of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease, earning him the Lasker Prize. This clinical trial on the exoskeleton is also an achievement. Already in 2012, the researcher referred to it as “one of Clinatec’s master projects”.
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