IBM chip helps French father regain some mobility

An IBM chip is helping a paralyzed man to regain some of his ability to walk
again. The "stand up and walk" SUAW chip is part of a European medical and
technology project to overcome paralysis. The four-year-old project employs a
3.9mm by 4.5mm chip from IBM implanted under the patient's skin.  Electrodes
connect the SUAW chip to muscle fibers, where electric pulses then contract
leg muscles. BM developed the SUAW chip in its Corbeil-Essonnes, France
laboratory. It uses 0.80-micron technology and comprises logic elements (more
than 10,000 transistors), along with two analog-to-digital converters and one
digital-to-analog converter.

For more: 
http://www.electronicnews.com/enews/news/2901-83NewsDetail.asp
http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/success/en/med/0077e.html
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cordis-cgi/srchidadb?CALLER=PROJADVANCEDSRCH&SRCH&QF_EP_RCN_A=32512&ACTION=D