A man with Parkinson’s regained the ability to walk thanks to a spinal implant

[JustAGuy1]

A man with Parkinson’s disease has regained the ability to walk after physicians implanted a small device into his spinal cord that sends signals to his legs.
“I can now walk with much more confidence and my daily life has profoundly improved,” said the patient, a 62-year-old named Marc, during a press conference.
Marc is the first and only person to have received the new spinal neuroprosthesis, a small device containing electrodes placed under the skin on top of his spinal cord. It works by sending bursts of electrical signals to stimulate the nerves in his spinal cord, which then activate his leg muscles. The implant is described in a new study published today in Nature Medicine.
Marc has had Parkinson’s for about three decades. Twenty years ago, he received an implant that delivered deep brain stimulation—a common treatment for this disease. Despite that, he gradually developed neurological problems that left him unable to get around. “I was forced to stop walking for three years and I was considered handicapped,” Marc said.

A man with Parkinson’s regained the ability to walk thanks to a spinal implant

The implant delivers bursts of electrical signals, stimulating his spinal cord to make his leg muscles move.

www.technologyreview.com

Pretty damned amazing!!!!!

 

[g5000]

That's pretty cool, though the man was not completely paralyzed. He could walk, but not very well.