According to Reuters, M.A.N.T.I.S. is now a reality.
Shortly after Crave announced that a paralyzed man was able to experience the sense of touch with a specially equipped prosthetic arm that was linked directly to his brain, scientists in California have managed to construct a special computer system that has linked a paralyzed man’s legs directly into his brain, allowing him to walk. Adam Fritz, 28, was paralyzed from the waist down in a motorcycle accident about five years ago, and, yesterday, took his first shaky steps since the accident. Fritz is the first paralyzed man in history to walk again without the aid of robotics or prosthetics.
Check Out: Paralyzed Man Able to “Feel” Using Prosthetic Hand Directly Connected to Brain
The process of learning to walk again also involved, of course, a regimen of physical therapy to build up muscle, as well as a special virtual reality training system that taught Fritz how to use his legs with the new bypass technology. The signals from his brain are picked up using a helmet, which, researchers hope, will eventually be made small enough to be implanted under the skin or inside the skull. This is a breakthrough in medical science.
This “injury bypass” technology was the central feature of the obscure ’90s superhero TV series M.A.N.T.I.S., wherein a paralyzed doctor constructed a superhero suit that allowed him to walk again. Adam Fritz may not become a superhero, but he is now able to move again.
Top Image: Fox
Witney Seibold is a contributor to CraveOnline and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind.
