Mind-reading Exoskeleton allows Paralyzed Man to Walk

By Sean Jackson

“It was like [being the] first man on the moon.” said Thiabault, a 30-year-old man who was paralyzed after an accident where he fell close to fifty feet while in a nightclub, “I did not walk for two years.”

Thiabault, who is keeping his last name anonymous for privacy, was able to walk for the first time using a brain-controlled exoskeleton, according to french researchers who reported their findings in The Lancet Neurology Journal last Thursday. While the exoskeleton is less than perfect in terms of mobility, it allows for what was thought to be impossible — giving Thiabault the ability to walk within the lab.

Thiabault’s injuries left him paralyzed and in the hospital for two long years, but in 2017 he began taking part in a trial with Clinatec in conjunction with the University of Grenoble. The trial included receiving brain implants that allow him to control a virtual avatar in a computer game, and then move up to walking in a suit.

The two wireless sensors on the brain, which are placed on areas responsible for movement control, record electrical impulses and send commands to the machine. The implants cover the parts of the brain that control movement with sixty-four electrodes. The use of a video game avatar allowed Thiabault to orient himself, maneuver…