Trailer: Paralysis patients might be looking at a precious glimmer of hope

When 35-year-old Liu Boqi felt a twitch in the index and middle fingers of his right hand just six hours after an electrode was implanted onto his cervical cord, his doctors knew something miraculous had happened.

Liu, a traffic police officer, was sent to the Second Norman Bethune Hospital of Jilin University in northeast China with paralysis in all four limbs after a brush with death in a road accident two nights before Christmas of 2024.

An MRI scan showed the third cervical vertebra, or C3, of his neck fractured and dislocated, leading to a complete high cervical spinal cord injury, and paralysis in the arms and legs. 

The odds were stacked against Liu. The chances of a patient even surviving that kind of injury are less than 10 percent, says Wu Minfei, an experienced orthopedist and deputy director of the hospital that treated Liu. 

But this patient had kept up an active lifestyle thanks to the regimented routines he built up while serving in the army. So he made it through the first surgery.

Post-surgery, it became abundantly clear that traditional treatment would not be enough if Liu ever wanted to literally stand on his own two feet again.

A month into rehabilitation, with the full support of Liu's anxious family, the medical team led by Wu made a bold decision: an electrode developed by the hospital team would be implanted into Liu's cervical cord.

And six hours after the procedure, his doctors and his family had their miracle.

Now, with a combination of mobility training and a futuristic-looking pair of robotic legs, or exoskeleton, Liu is able to stand up and walk again.

Liu is a living, walking embodiment of hope for patients like Zhao Yanchun, who decided to go through the implant surgery himself after reading about Liu's story in a magazine.

"Trailblazers" is the word Zhao used to describe Liu and himself.

So is electrode stimulation surgery, made possible thanks to advancements in spinal cord-computer interface technology, the glimmer of hope paralysis patients have been waiting for?

CGTN's program Health Talk takes a closer look into the pioneering treatment of Liu Boqi and its global significance for the medical field. Here is a preview.