Good or bad, AI has been making progress in all sectors around the globe. While a group of people fear the risks that AI poses to humanity, in the latest case, artificial intelligence helped restore the bodily senses of a paralysed man. A team of US doctors (plus those having roots in India) utilised brain implants and AI to recover the touch and movement of Keith Thomas, 45, who was paralysed below the neck.
A diving mishap in 2020 left Thomas incapable to move or feel things. After spending over six months at the hospital, he zeroed down to join the novel clinical trial of Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health.
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The team handling Thomas implanted microchips in the man's brain and trained AI algorithms to re-establish the brain's link with the body and spinal cord. The mapping process went on for months via several Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to locate the coordinates responsible for arm movement and sensation in Thomas' hand.
During the open-brain surgery at North Shore University Hospital (NSUH) in March, Thomas shared real-time insights with doctors such as what he felt in his hands and more.
"We inserted two chips in the area responsible for movement and three more in the part of the brain responsible for touch and feeling in the fingers," surgeon Ashesh Mehta said, who also happens to be a professor at the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine.
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Thomas can now read, translate thoughts into action and interpret messages in a controlled environment. He can now initiate hand movements and feel his sister's supportive touch for the first time after the accident in 2020. Plus, his arm strength is improving, and the new sensation is gradually heading to the forearm and wrist.
"There was a time that I didn't know if I was even going to live, or if I wanted to, frankly. And now, I can feel the touch of someone holding my hand. It's overwhelming," said Thomas. This is not the first time AI has grabbed eyeballs in the medical sector, you can read more instances here.