Fourteen years after the car accident that paralysed him from the chest down, Dinesh Palipana put on a headset and, for the first time since his injury, experienced the sensation of walking. Not through his legs, but through a thought-controlled virtual reality simulation, built from a digital model of his own body and driven by the electrical activity of his brain.
Dinesh is a doctor and co-lead researcher on BioSpine, a Griffith University research program based at the BioSpine Augmented Ability Hub , working alongside biomedical engineer Claudio Pizzolato to restore movement and sensation in people with spinal cord injury. The VR walking simulation is just one part of a bigger research project.
What Happens Inside the BioSpine Hub
The Augmented Ability Hub is a cross-disciplinary research lab where engineers, clinicians, designers, scientists and people with lived experience of spinal cord injury work side by side.
“Rather than developing technology in isolation and testing it on patients later, the Hub is built for co-development from the start, with input from users shaping the tools as they’re built.”
Inside, the work draws on many non-invasive technologies working in combination: brain-computer interfaces that read electrical activity from the brain, virtual and extended reality environments, functional electrical stimulation, and transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation delivered through the skin. The aim is to promote recovery of both movement and sensation.
How the Technology Works
At the centre of BioSpine is what the team calls a digital twin: a simulation of a person's own musculoskeletal system, built using detailed modelling of how their body moves.
“The digital model lets researchers personalise the intervention to the individual, so the different technologies involved can be tuned to what that person's body specifically needs to relearn.”
The brain-computer interface works by picking up electrical signals from the scalp using external electrodes, capturing a person's intention to move. Paired with the digital twin's model of that same person's body, the system can tailor the therapy to how their body specifically moves and responds.
The Early Results Are Positive
The research has moved beyond early concepts. A year-long trial involving five participants recorded improvements in muscle and bone density across the group, and two participants who began with no voluntary movement or sensation below their injury regained some of both by the end of the trial. Griffith University has since secured further funding to build on these results, with the next stage focused on testing the intervention with more participants and moving the technology closer to something that could eventually be used in clinical settings too.
2 of 5 Participants Regained Movement or Sensation
A year-long trial recorded improvements in muscle and bone density across the group, with two participants regaining some voluntary movement or sensation below their injury.
How This Technology Could Help OTs
The physical results, including muscle retention, bone density and small returns of movement and sensation, are significant in their own right. But there's a psychological dimension to this work too, especially for OTs.
For someone living with a spinal cord injury, much of the conversation can become focused on what's no longer possible.
“Augmented ability could offer a tangible, felt experience of movement or sensation that for many could otherwise feel permanently out of reach.”
The Hub runs tours, workshops and open days, giving clinicians, industry partners and the community the opportunity to see the technology up close.
Want to Learn More About BioSpine?
The BioSpine Augmented Ability Hub runs tours, workshops and open days for clinicians, industry partners and the community.