A new kind of robotic leg braces that are controlled by small
voltage fluctuations of the brain, as read by an
electroencephalogram (EEG) placed over the head, could pave the
way for overcoming paralysis, according to a new study posted
last month (August 24) on arXiv. As demonstrated by an able-
bodied volunteer in the video below, the device, known as a
“robotic gait orthosis” and developed by researchers at the Long
Beach Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of
California, Irvine, provides a completely noninvasive way of
moving a patient’s legs in a walking pattern. All the patient
has to do is imagine they are walking (or standing, to stop).
“It’s an important step toward helping people with lower limb
paralysis,” biomedical engineer Matt Fifer of Johns Hopkins
University, who was not involved in the study, told Wired
Science. “But there are lots of challenges still,” he added. In
preliminary tests, the device interpreted the participants’
brain signals with about 95 percent accuracy, with ju