UK professor's 40-second demonstration during the World Cup could have lasting impact

Dr. Lumy Sawaki cried as she watched one of her patients, who has no motor or sensory function, take a first step.

But it wasn't a normal step. The patient was wearing a helmet and a full-body, robotic exoskeleton reminiscent of something in a Marvel superhero movie.

Sawaki recalled knowing the paralyzed patient couldn't feel the foot hit the ground, but the patient's eyes lit up and Sawaki considered that step, after months of rehabilitation, a major accomplishment.

Sawaki, an associate professor in the University of Kentucky department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, is also clinical director of the Walk Again Project.

"I am called the crying doctor," Sawaki said, laughing. "It's just so emotional."

The project's doctors, engineers and scientists from around the world, have worked for 18 months to demonstrate new brain-computer interface technology that will be used at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil. The project receives funding and support from the Brazilian Innovation Agency and the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal.

On June 12, a paralyzed spinal cord injury patient will kick the first ball of the World Cup in Sao Paulo using an exoskeleton and brain-computer technology. This will be someone who has absolutely no motor function and can't walk, much less kick a ball.

One of eight trained patients will take 40 seconds of the World Cup to demonstrate the rehabilitation technology.

"We're not going to be able to show science," Sawaki said. "You can't do that in 40 seconds. But we will bring awareness to our work and awareness to the condition."

Sawaki chose eight patients from ages 26 to 38 to train for the demonstration after they completed a rigourous screening process involving physiological tests and physical examinations. All of the patients could walk at some point in their lives but suffered an injury that paralyzed them entirely.

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UK professor's 40-second demonstration during the World Cup could have lasting impact