Thank artificial intelligence for what doctors are declaring a contemporary medical “miracle.”
A Long Island man who was paralyzed in a diving accident has regained motion and feeling in his body after a breakthrough, machine learning-based surgery that successfully “connected a pc to his brain” through microelectrode implants.
Now, the successful case of Massapequa’s Keith Thomas, 45, is being heralded throughout the medical world as a “pioneer” case for AI-infused surgeries to treat or cure impassible illnesses like blindness, deafness, ALS, seizures, cerebral palsy and Parkinson’s, experts at Manhasset’s Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research boast.
“That is the primary time a paralyzed person is regaining movement and sensation by having their brain, body and spinal cord electronically linked together,” Chad Bouton, a professor at Feinstein’s Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine, told The Post.
“We could proceed to assist thousands and thousands of oldsters all over the world and possibly with an excellent broader range of conditions.”
Three summers ago in 2020, Thomas, a successful wealth manager living in Manhattan for twenty years, had broken his neck and portions of his spine while diving right into a friend’s pool in Montauk. He blacked out under the water and awoke to learn the grim news that he was not in charge of his body.
Thomas, who had to maneuver back into his South Shore hometown, had initially been told that he wouldn’t find a way to ever move again below the neck — but he wouldn’t buy it.
“I’m a real Latest Yorker and wanted every thing [fixed] immediately,” Thomas — known for his humorousness — told The Post, recalling that even getting away from bed was a scary challenge at first.
Through trials, tribulations and major lifestyle adjustments, Thomas seldom lost his spirit or sense of unity with those that cared for him. He knew things would recover and the people in his life made sure of it.
His family members put together a GoFundMe, which raised greater than $360,000 to accommodate his needs after the accident — individual donations got here in as large as $10,000.
“He was loved by many and I didn’t even know this until people contacted me,” Michelle Bennett, Thomas’ sister who now lives with him, told The Post.
“Everybody thought they were his best friend, he made everyone feel special,” she added. “All of them rallied for him and passed the data around. It was incredible how generous people have been for him.”
Thomas’ love of life and the people in it — plus his outstanding determination — are literally what made him a great candidate for the first-of-its-kind surgery, Dr. Ashesh Mehta, director of the Institute’s Laboratory of Human Brain Mapping, told The Post.
“There was something special about Keith,” he said. “We knew that he had the strength, the correct attitude, the perseverance to do what’s required.”
What was required was a high-pressure 15-hour surgery, a few of which Thomas needed to be awake for to speak with Mehta and fellow operators.
“The surgery needed to go perfectly. There was no room for error,” Mehta added. “There’s just one approach to get it right and one million ways to screw it up.”
Despite this, Thomas was left unfazed. Bennett said he was even cracking jokes while doctors went to work.
Upon the procedure’s unprecedented success and one week’s recovery — Thomas was particularly keen on the lamb chops at North Shore University Hospital — he was capable of hold his sister’s hand for the primary time since his accident.
“It means a lot to me to have him find a way to have a glimpse of independence,” Bennett said. “We take as a right what we could do, from brushing our teeth to taking a sip of water at any time when we wish. Just wiping away some mosquitoes on the south shore of the island.”
No one is more aware of this than the “pioneer” patient himself.
“It’s quite an extended road to get up to now,” Thomas said, adding that he can now move his right arm to his face and the subsequent goal is to brush his own teeth.
“I used to be crying like crazy.”
An evolutionary science
Undoing the damning effects of paralysis just isn’t a feat that comes calmly — nor was it feasible years ago.
Awe-inspiring recent reaches of AI made Thomas’ “literal, first of its kind,” double bypass brain implant possible. He’s now a model patient for what can only be described as revolutionary medical science.
“You might have a pc connected to your brain and also you get feedback based on your personal thoughts,” said Bouton. “That causes what we call plasticity within the brain. Plasticity is the important thing [resolve] to many, many conditions and movement disorders like MS — having the ability to train and reshape the brain and the spinal cord on this case.”
Mehta actually had his work cut out to achieve this. Planting minuscule-size electrodes right into a live human brain is one in all medicine’s tougher procedures.
“Imagine an 8 by 10 sheet of paper and also you’ve got to position a dot right in the course of it,” he said. “It will probably’t be one millimeter come what may way.”
With every thing in the correct neuro-location, Thomas is now getting situated with the minute computers in his head. He spends two to a few days every week in specialized training sessions to regulate, based on his doctor.
“It’s a two-way street, because not only is he training the machines however the machines are training him,” said Mehta. “When he plugs into the computers, they turn into a part of him. We’re learning about this technology through Keith and that broadens the scope.”
Sooner or later for this reason individual, neurological “rewiring,” Thomas might even walk again, blind people could see and the deaf could hear, his medical team agrees.
“You possibly can do more movements and you may begin to feel more. So yes, I believe this [breakthrough is] happening now,” Bouton said. “The sky’s the limit.”
