Adam Fritz was 21 years old when he got into a motorcycle accident and injured his spinal cord, according to TIME.
Fritz was reportedly told that he would never walk again due to his spinal cord injury, but researchers at the University of California Irvine have changed this prognosis.
Fritz was able to walk along a 12-foot course using an electroencephalogram based system that takes electrical signals from the participant’s brain and send them down to electrodes placed around his knees, according to CBS News.
“Even after years of paralysis the brain can still generate robust brain waves that can be harnessed to enable basic walking," lead researcher Dr. An Do explained in a statement.
“We showed that you can restore intuitive, brain-controlled walking after a complete spinal cord injury. This noninvasive system for leg muscle stimulation is a promising method and is an advance of our current brain-controlled systems that use virtual reality or a robotic exoskeleton."
Dr. Zoran Nenadic, who led the team, and his colleagues reportedly began their research in the summer of 2014. They reportedly began by looking at California-area rehabilitation centers to find a fit and highly motivated patients who could serve as a test subject.
Fritz and the team reportedly worked on training the part of his brain that controls walking by using a virtual reality system.
“It’s weird to conceptualize,” explained Fritz.
“You don’t really think about walking when you walk. In my mind, I was physically trying to move my legs and then stop them. You have to clear your mind.”
Fritz was then reportedly hooked to a harness and connected to a computer that sent the proper electrical jolts to his legs while he supported himself with a walker.
Authors reportedly noted that further research is needed to see whether the recent breakthrough could help a larger population of people.
"Once we've confirmed the usability of this noninvasive system, we can look into invasive means, such as brain implants. We hope that an implant could achieve an even greater level of prosthesis control because brain waves are recorded with higher quality," stated Dr. Nenadic.
“In addition, such an implant could deliver sensation back to the brain, enabling the user to feel their legs."