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Medicine Biotech

Device Allows Paralyzed Rats To Walk, Human Trials Scheduled Next Summer 85

Posted by samzenpus from the walking-again dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A new technique pioneered by scientists working on project NEUWalk at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology (EPFL) have figured out a way to reactivate the severed spinal cords of fully paralyzed rats, allowing them to walk again via remote control. Human trials are scheduled for next summer. "We have complete control of the rat's hind legs," EPFL neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine said. "The rat has no voluntary control of its limbs, but the severed spinal cord can be reactivated and stimulated to perform natural walking. We can control in real-time how the rat moves forward and how high it lifts its legs."
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Device Allows Paralyzed Rats To Walk, Human Trials Scheduled Next Summer More

Device Allows Paralyzed Rats To Walk, Human Trials Scheduled Next Summer

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  • QWOP IRL (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Bad joke, given that this might one day truly help people. But it was the first thing that came to mind.

  • humans walk like rats? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Noah Haders ( 3621429 ) on Wednesday September 24, 2014 @11:50PM (#47990697)
    I don't see how this can be practical to have a device so humans can walk like rats.

  • the next logical step (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Doubting Sapien ( 2448658 ) on Wednesday September 24, 2014 @11:54PM (#47990715)
    After they optimize this for human physiology and gain commercial approval, this technology will obviously be a boon for accident victims. However, the engineer in me can't help but think of how far they can take the cyborg theme. ALS is a disease where motor neurons selectively waste away. Do we dare hope that we can eventually bypass the whole path of neuro connections to directly stimulate individual muscle groups?

    • Actually what I'm wondering here is if they can control how the rat walks, then what's stopping them from using electrical receptors on the other side of the break to let the rat control how it's legs moves? If the technology is precise enough to stimulate, then it can surely be precise enough to receive.

      • I don't have very deep background in this area, but a bit of trivia from a neuroscience class two years ago is relevant here. Decades ago, before research ethics developed to its current state, there was an experiment using a de-brained but still living cat that showed the neural circuitry in the spinal cord was sophisticated enough to coordinate walking/running with no input/output to the brain. The following youtube clip shows film footage of the cat suspended over a treadmill where the motion of the tr

        • Right, this much I kind of inferred - but what I'm wondering is, surely you could connect a reasonably blunt reading of spinal cord electrical signals to electrodes, and use that to control the stimulation of the walking action. The brain's body map is a pretty fluid vehicle, so even with limited control it seems likely that people would be able to control the synthetic system fairly well.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by d'baba ( 1134261 )

          ...there was an experiment using a de-brained but still living cat that showed ...

          How pithy.

    • However, the engineer in me can't help but think of how far they can take the cyborg theme.

      Are you kidding me? Imagine having one that you could just strap on for an hour, get on a treadmill, and then read a book or surf the net while your legs did their thing. I'd exercise everyday.

      Sign me up!

      • That was my first thought. I remember seeing some spa equipment that worked adults' bodies as they read books and "relaxed". Imagine if you could walk 20 miles a day without cognitive input required.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by geekoid ( 135745 )

        So you want one of these:
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      • However, the engineer in me can't help but think of how far they can take the cyborg theme.

        Are you kidding me? Imagine having one that you could just strap on for an hour, get on a treadmill, and then read a book or surf the net while your legs did their thing. I'd exercise everyday.

        Sign me up!

        What would the difference be? Unless you detach your upper body, it is still going to follow the legs and bump und down as much if not more that if you ran normally. Reading a book is not going to get any easier, the main problem is all the bouncing, so I recommend audiobooks.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The engineer in me says that this is going to be a LOT more difficult in humans than in rats. In the demo video the rat is actually suspended, which means the legs are not actually supporting the weight of the body, which means the feet, ankles, toes, knees, are not making minute changes to carry and balance the load of the body. The lack of feedback from the nerves and the inner ear, means they would need multiple sensors for balance, and need to be able to control many muscle groups very precisely. Knowin

  • Meanwhile many non-walking humans are sitting around waiting for the trials.

  • There are about a dozen politician jokes to be mined from this story.

  • late to the party (Score:5, Informative)

    by tloh ( 451585 ) on Thursday September 25, 2014 @01:15AM (#47990931)

    Slashdot is a bit slow on this one. Here is a TED talk from the researcher posted last year.

    https://www.ted.com/talks/greg... [ted.com]

  • I knew it was just a matter of time before the zombie apocalypse, but I never thought it would be done by remote control.
  • I predict a huge market that is not helping people walk.

  • The difference between this and what we did back in the 60's in biology class (making the frog's leg jump with a jolt of electricity) is sad, considering. The control systems are certainly better. Oh, and the marketing, yes.

    Wake me when they have a video of a human doing this.

    • Obviously the average slashdot reader can always do better, be it rocket science or neuro science. Ask a paralysed person it this is good news or only "marketing". And why test it, risk some human lifes from the very beginning.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      When you find yourself typing this:
      "Jackass Moment "
      Just cancel it and move on. Seriously, you recognized you were being a jackass but march onward.

  • "The rat has no voluntary control of its limbs, but the severed spinal cord can be reactivated and stimulated to perform natural walking. We can control in real-time how the rat moves forward and how high it lifts its legs."

    This also accidentally describes the nearly-attained goals of the US state security organs (with assists from the POTUS and the Supremes).

  • Are the groups researching repair of spinal cord injuries. Seems if you get to them before too much time passes you can get the nerves to re-grow and connect again with a certain compound. I think that will stave off future handicapped people.
  • If you had a paralyzed family member like me, you'd really understand what this means to a lot of people. I'm thankful for those rats, I'm sorry they might've to suffer to get us here, but then again, it gives us hope. It might be too late for my aunt already, but if future generations of handicapped people can take advantage of this, that's amazing.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by geekoid ( 135745 )

      "future generations of handicapped people "
      If this works, future generation of Handicapped people won't exist.

      The real tragedy is that wan't have anyone's parking space to steal.

      That was a joke. So calm the fuck down.

  • Any time I hear about spinal injuries in rats, it always reminds me of this [yahoo.com] (go to 3:56). "Well that's good news, huh? Getting all those rats up and around again!" :-D

  • Yes! The first step in developing Cymeks (look up the term if you're unfamiliar with the Dune universe).

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