Russian girl Vera uses assistive equipment to stand and walk. Photo: Tide News

A 12-year-old Russian girl paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident can now stand and walk with assistive equipment, following a pioneering closed-loop spinal cord neural interface surgery in East China. 

The patient, Vera, suffered a severe spinal cord injury last year that left her reliant on a wheelchair with most bodily sensation lost. Since local doctors offered no hope of recovery, her family traveled thousands of kilometers to Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (SAHZU) in Hangzhou, seeking cutting-edge treatment coordinated with the help of the Russian Embassy in China, Zhejiang Province-based Tide News reported on Tuesday.

In April 2026, Vera was hospitalized and underwent an innovative operation using an entirely self-developed Chinese neural interface system. Surgeons placed multi-point electrode arrays on her spinal dura mater via a minimally invasive thoracic-lumbar incision. The system acts as a custom amplifier, boosting residual micro-signals from the brain past the damaged spinal segment to reactivate leg muscles.

Following three months of intensive, AI-assisted multidisciplinary rehabilitation - combining neurosurgery, biomedical engineering, electrophysiology, and physical therapy - Vera regained sensation in her feet and achieved active lower-limb movement. She can now walk over 10 meters using assistive devices.

"Her progress is promising and we believe she will one day walk independently," her mother said as Vera prepared to return to Russia with a tailored home-rehabilitation plan in September. 

Global spinal cord injuries affect roughly 20 million people with over 3.7 million in China alone. Vera is among more than 20 patients who have achieved varying degrees of functional recovery through this procedure at SAHZU. In April 2026, the hospital launched Zhejiang Province's first integrated clinical research ward for epidural electrical stimulation and rehabilitation, accelerating the shift of this technology from trial to routine clinical practice.

Global Times