The development of a technology that now allows the Dutchman, Gert-Jan Oskam, to walk was described as a great advance for science. Oskam spent more than 10 years without the possibility of walking, this after a serious bicycle accident. In 2011, this Dutchman was heading towards his house after leaving work, but unexpectedly he ended up in an accident that prevented him from functioning properly with his four limbs.
Now, 12 years later, Gert-Jan Oskam can finally walk thanks to the work of a group of researchers, in which even a Colombian woman participated. The development of this new technology is considered a new stage for the treatment of neurological diseases of this type.
In the body of Gert-Jan Oskam, a “digital bridge” was installed, connecting the brain and the spinal cord. In this way, the two devices digitally connect these parts of the body and make it possible to virtually transmit Oskam’s desire to walk from the brain to the spinal cord. With this technological development, the patient has been able to walk long distances with the help of crutches and has been able to climb stairs.
Previously, the Dutchman had tried other technologies to be able to achieve movement. In fact, his desire to recover mobility was such that after several therapies he managed to timidly move his arms. In the middle of a press conference he pointed out quite happily, “before, electrical stimulation controlled me. Now I am the one who controls the stimulation”.
In Oskam’s other attempts to recover the mobility of his extremities, he came across an experiment in 2017 that consisted of electrical stimulation in the spinal cord. This technology worked thanks to an implant developed by the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, in Switzerland. However, for Oskam it was not enough and he decided to test the new development that now allows him to walk.
The neuroengineer Eduardo Martín Moraud assured that thanks to this new technology people with neurological diseases will have an opportunity to perform better in their day to day. “This study is a giant step towards the dream of restoring voluntary motor control in patients suffering from neurological diseases, such as spinal cord injury, stroke, Parkinson’s and essential tremor.”
On the other hand, the Bogotá native and neuroengineer Andrea Gálvez explained how the invention works on which she has been working for several months with her work team. “Gert-Jan already had an implant in her spinal cord, which allows electrical stimulation and reactivates her leg muscles. In this clinical trial we have placed two implants in the motor part of the brain, one in each hemisphere, which allow us to read the intention of movement, decode it and make that digital bridge so that the stimulation in the legs is deliberate”
