Body Suit could Help the Paralyzed Walk Once More

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 Scientists at Duke University are working on brain implants that could lead to a full body suit that would let the paralyzed walk again.

 Publishing their work on Wednesday, lead researcher Professor Miguel Nicolelis and his team showcased their work by demonstrating it with two rhesus monkeys that had been implanted with electrodes to their brains. The monkeys were able to manipulate an electric hand using brain power alone.

"Someday in the near future, quadriplegic patients will take advantage of this technology," said Nicolelis, a professor of neurobiology at Duke University in North Carolina.

The team's objective is for paraplegics "not only to move their arms and hands and to walk again, but also to sense the texture of objects placed in their hands, or experience the nuances of the terrain on which they stroll with the help of a wearable robotic exoskeleton."

The experiment showed that the team was able to provide the sensation of touch directly to the monkeys' brains. The monkeys were able to distinguish between different objects by sensing