Paralysed man can move arm again through power of thought control

Thought-control technology has brought a man’s immovable right arm and hand back to life after eight years.

American Bill Kochevar, who was paralysed below his shoulders in a bicycling accident, can now grasp and lift objects.

In one test, he slowly raised a mug of water to his lips and drank from a straw. Another saw him scoop forkfuls of mashed potato from a bowl.

He is believed to be the first person in the world with quadriplegia to have arm and hand movement restored by two kinds of implant. 0 Bill Kochevar can control hand and arm movement again

Two pill-sized 96-channel electrode arrays under Mr Kochevar’s skull record the activity on the surface of the motor cortex region of his brain that tell another device to stimulate muscles in the paralysed limb.

Mr Kochevar, 56, from Cleveland, Ohio, said: “For somebody who’s been injured eight years and couldn’t move, being able to move just that little bit is awesome to me.

“It’s better than I thought it would be.”

A report on his progress appears in the latest issue of The Lancet medical journal.

Principal investigator Dr Bob Kirsch, from Case Western Reserve University in the US, said: “He’s really breaking ground for the spinal cord injury community.

“This is a major step toward restoring some independence.”