Years After Paralysis, A Brain Implant Delivers Remarkable Progress

Years After Paralysis, A Brain Implant Delivers Remarkable Progress as researchers reported durable gains for a man who regained movement and the ability to feel touch after an experimental brain-computer interface. The case involved Keith Thomas, 48, who had been paralyzed from the neck down after a diving accident and had waited six years before enrolling in a clinical trial at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York. Results were published July 16 in Nature Medicine and used a first-of-its-kind “double neural bypass” pairing implanted brain electrode arrays with stimulation over the spinal cord and forearm, plus pressure sensors in a custom orthotic. In decoding, intended movements were interpreted about 85% of the time. After 35 weeks, researchers measured an 86% increase in right-arm strength and a 62% improvement in the left, alongside restored sensation in parts of his right hand and wrist. Improvements persisted beyond stimulation shutdown, with follow-up over two years. Outside experts cautioned the single-patient nature limits conclusions.