A 26 year old man who lost the use of his legs due to a spinal cord injury has regained the ability to walk using a system controlled by his brain waves, along with a harness to help support his body weight. Adam Fritz has used a wheelchair for five years after an accident in which the motorcycle he was riding collided with some furniture that had fallen off a lorry in front of him. As a result, he was paralyzed from the waist down.

2. A 26 year old man who lost the use of his legs due to a spinal
cord injury has regained the ability to walk using a system
controlled by his brain waves, along with a harness to help
support his body weight. Adam Fritz has used a wheelchair for
five years after an accident in which the motorcycle he was
riding collided with some furniture that had fallen off a lorry in
front of him. As a result, he was paralysed from the waist
down.
What’s this all about?

3. How did this happen?
In order to walk, Fritz wore a cap with electrodes that was able to
detect his brain signals. These electrical signals – the same as those a
doctor looks at when running an EEG test – were sent to a computer,
which decoded the brain waves. It then used them to send instructions
to another device that stimulated the nerves in the man’s legs, causing
the muscles to move.
Fritz was able to walk 12 feet (3.6 meters). He used a walker and wore
a harness to provide some body weight support and to prevent him
from falling.

4. Intense training was required
Fritz was able to walk 12 feet (3.6 meters). He used a walker and wore
a harness to provide some body weight support and to prevent him
from falling.
Fritz needed intensive training to generate recognisable walking
signals in his brain, and to learn how to use the device to put one foot
in front of the other. He also needed extensive physical training to
build up the muscle tone in his legs.

5. Adam Fritz speaks out
On his 20th session he was able to use the system to walk on the
ground for the first time in years. Over the 19 week course, he learned
to better control the device and so the movement of his legs.
“It was incredible,” he says. “When you’re first injured, you’re sitting in
hospital hoping you’ll walk again but when it actually happened, it was
a dream come true.”
“I actually did it and it was something I will never forget.”

6. So what now?
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Paralysed man walks again with the use of his
own legs