In the last few decades, individuals with mobility issues have seen a flurry of advancements in neuroprosthetic devices, artificial systems that seek to replace a particular sensation or lost ability.

Persons with Parkinson's disease increasingly lose their mobility over time and are eventually unable to walk. Hope for these patients rests on deep brain stimulation, also known as a brain pacemaker.

A project at MIT has investigated whether optogenetics could be a better way to drive muscle contraction in clinical treatments than traditional electrical stimulation. Published in Science Robotics, ...