AI Brain Implant Restores Movement and Touch for Paralyzed New Yorker Keith Thomas

Researchers at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research and Northwell Health implanted a double neural bypass system that links microchips in the motor and sensory regions of the brain to flexible electrode patches on the spine and forearm muscles. The artificial‑intelligence software decodes the patient’s intended movements and routes signals around a complete spinal cord injury, while fingertip sensors feed sensory information back to the brain.

The system enabled Keith Thomas, a New York resident paralyzed from the chest down after a 2020 diving accident, to lift his hands, feed himself and raise a cup. After 35 weeks of training his arm strength increased by 86% on the right and 62% on the left. Sensation returned to previously numb areas of his wrist through a technique called cortical mirroring. Follow‑up testing showed these gains persisted for more than two years. Dr. Chad Bouton said, “We just announced that we have a three‑and‑a‑half‑year study, and we found that a technology called the double neurobypass can restore movement and sensation in someone who has a complete spinal cord injury.”