A Swiss company has developed a neuroprosthetic device that is placed in the spinal cord, activating leg muscles and enabling Parkinson’s patients to walk again. The device gave successful results on 63-year-old Marc Gauthier, who has been suffering from Parkinson’s disease for 25 years. Gauthier said that after the rehabilitation process, he was able to walk 5 kilometers and climb stairs without difficulty.
Gregoire Courtine, a neuroscience professor at the Lausanne University Hospital where Gauthier’s surgery was performed, said it is the electrical impulses transmitted to Gauthier’s spinal cord that enable him to walk.