--- description: Find out why Northwell Health Double Neural Bypass is one of the best inventions of 2024 title: Northwell Health Double Neural Bypass: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fdeb62f33cd924f/698a8a82b21a9c6da350f352/double-neural-bypass-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 30, 2024 # Forging Brain-Spine Connections by [Jeff Wilser](/author/jeff-wilser/) ## Jeff Wilser Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Prof. Chad Bouton (right), the study’s principal investigator, works in his lab at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research to restore lasting movement and feeling in the arm and hand of a man living with paralysis. Prof. Chad Bouton (right), the study’s principal investigator, works in his lab at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research to restore lasting movement and feeling in the arm and hand of a man living with paralysis.MATTHEW LIBASSI In 2020, Keith Thomas dived into a pool, hit his head, and broke his neck. He was paralyzed from the chest down. Then, in a first-of-its-kind surgery last year, scientists implanted microchips into his brain to connect his thoughts to arm and hand movement, creating a two-way link—a “double bypass”—that allowed signals to travel in both directions. Now Thomas can open his hand, lift his arms, flex his biceps. “He used to have family members scratch his face if he had an itch,” says technology inventor Chad Bouton, professor at the Northwell Health Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. “Now he can pet his dog.” The team hopes it could also help stroke survivors in the future. These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094710/northwell-health-double-neural-bypass/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094710/northwell-health-double-neural-bypass/"},"headline":"Northwell Health Double Neural Bypass: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024","datePublished":"2024-10-30T11:53:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T11:54:29.696Z","description":"Find out why Northwell Health Double Neural Bypass is one of the best inventions of 2024","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094710/northwell-health-double-neural-bypass/","keywords":["Tech","E-Commerce","list","franchise","Magazine","best inventions"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fdeb62f33cd924f/698a8a82b21a9c6da350f352/double-neural-bypass-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeff Wilser","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/jeff-wilser/"}],"creator":"Jeff Wilser","articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3fdeb62f33cd924f/698a8a82b21a9c6da350f352/double-neural-bypass-best-inventions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2024/7094710/northwell-health-double-neural-bypass/","name":"Northwell Health Double Neural Bypass: the 200 Best Inventions of 2024"}}]}] ```