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July 28, 2023
jnani
Thomas is the first human in the world to receive a double neural bypass, a technology that links his brain, spinal cord, and body in hopes of restoring both his ability to move and his sense of touch—even outside the laboratory
Time | Jamie Ducharme
A cluster of researchers surround 45-year-old Keith Thomas, their eyes fixed on his right hand. “Open, open, open,” they urge, cheering when his fingers flutter out to mirror an image on a computer screen and again when they begin to curl back inward.
Thomas, who was paralyzed from the chest down after a diving accident in July 2020, is able to move his hand again thanks to a cutting-edge clinical trial led by researchers from Northwell Health’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research in New York. Chad Bouton, a bioengineer at the Feinstein Institutes who is leading the trial, says he believes Thomas is the first human in the world to receive a double neural bypass, a technology that links his brain, spinal cord, and body in hopes of restoring both his ability to move and his sense of touch—even outside the laboratory.
So far, the therapy seems to be working. Thomas is now able to lift his arms and can feel sensations on his skin, including the touch of his sister’s hand.
“It’s indescribable,” Thomas says, “to be able to feel something.”
Read the full article here.
