China’s first closed-loop spinal implant helps paraplegic stand and walk in two weeks

A surgical team in Hangzhou has carried out China’s first implantation of a closed-loop spinal cord neural interface, allowing a 61-year-old paraplegic man to stand and walk independently. The operation, performed at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine with support from Zhejiang University’s Nanhu Brain-Computer Interface Institute and other partners, represents a major step toward restoring motor and sensory function after severe spinal cord injury.

Mr. Jin lost all voluntary movement and most sensations below the chest after a thoracic 3/4 fracture caused by a fall in October 2024. Four months of conventional rehabilitation produced no meaningful motor recovery, and clinicians considered the prospects for independent ambulation extremely limited.

In March 2025, neurosurgeons implanted a 16-contact stimulation electrode into the lumbar spinal cord and positioned a matchbox-sized, wireless, rechargeable pulse generator in the patient’s abdomen. All hardware used in the procedure was developed in China and carries domestic intellectual property rights. The closed loop couples real-time electromyography feedback with tailored patterns of multi-site stimulation, a configuration designed to reinforce residual spinal circuits rather than overwrite them with constant pulses.

Progress was rapid. On the third postoperative day, Jin managed voluntary leg flexion and extension. By day 15, he could stand and walk unaided, and one month later, he could navigate turns, slopes, and variable speeds with a walker. Sensory perception in the lower limbs improved in parallel; bladder and bowel control also resumed, suggesting an accompanying repair of afferent pathways.

The project team notes that fixed-parameter stimulators seldom restore complex, self-initiated gait. Their adaptive interface combines precise contact selection with dynamic frequency and amplitude adjustments, enabling a more physiologic walking pattern. With an estimated 3.7 million people living with spinal cord injuries in China alone, researchers plan larger prospective trials to refine parameters, verify durability, and explore new approaches for neural injury repair, including studies on other forms of paralysis.