Hert-Jan Oskam was living in China in 2011 when he was involved in a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Today, thanks to a combination of devices, scientists have given him the ability to control his lower body again.

“I have been trying to get back on my feet for 12 years. Now I have learned to walk normally again,” Oskam said at a press conference on Tuesday. In a post on Wednesday at scientific journal NatureSwiss researchers have described the placement implantwhich acts as a “digital bridge” between Oskam’s brain and his spine, bypassing the injured area.

The discovery allowed the 40-year-old man to stand, walk and climb steep slopes with a cane. A year after implantation, Oskam retains these abilities and even shows signs of neurological improvement, dropping the “p” and walking with one cane even when the implant is not working.

“We took Hert-Jan’s thinking and translated it into stimuli to his spine, which allowed him to move autonomously,” says Grégoire Courtin, a neurosurgeon at the Federal Institute of Lausanne, who led the study. His colleague Jocelyn Block, who placed the implant in Oskam’s spine, added: “What once sounded like science fiction is now a reality.”

In recent decades, great strides have been made in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. In 2016, a medical team led by Dr. Curtin managed to restore the ability to walk in paralyzed monkeys, and at another hospital, a man was restored to the function of his paralyzed arm. In 2018, another research team, also led by Curtin, discovered a method to send electrical impulses to the brains of paralyzed patients, allowing them to walk and swim.

Oscar had previously undergone electromagnetic stimulation treatment and was able to partially regain his ability to walk. However, his progress was interrupted at some point. At a press conference, Oskam revealed how previous stimulation treatments made him feel like he was moving artificial limbs. However, the new system is different: “I was controlled by stimulation therapy. Now I feel like I’m in control of the treatment.”

A breakthrough in implant treatment involved an artificial intelligence “thought decoder” that “read” Oskam’s thoughts. The electrical signals emitted from his brain were deciphered by a program that gave commands to his limbs. The sequence of thought-action was preserved. All the science team has added is an implant, a digital bridge across a wound in a patient’s spine.

“This technique raises interesting questions about human autonomy and the source of the commands the brain receives. The philosophical line between the brain and an electronic device is becoming increasingly blurred,” says neuroscientist Andrew Jackson from Newcastle University, who was not involved in the study.