Good ol' U of L...
Study reports breakthrough in treating paralysis
20 May`11 - A 25-year-old man paralyzed in a hit-and-run accident five years ago can stand on his own again, and with help, can walk a few steps, says a new study. He can also voluntarily move his hips, knees, ankles and toes.
Study reports breakthrough in treating paralysis
20 May`11 - A 25-year-old man paralyzed in a hit-and-run accident five years ago can stand on his own again, and with help, can walk a few steps, says a new study. He can also voluntarily move his hips, knees, ankles and toes.
Scientists from the University of Louisville, UCLA and the California Institute of Technology reported their research, which involved electronic stimulation of the spinal cord, Thursday in the online version of the British medical journal TheLancet. "I was afraid to believe it when I first saw it," said study co-author Reggie Edgerton, professor of integrative biology, physiology and neurobiology at UCLA, and a member of the Brain Research Institute there. "To everyone's disbelief, I was able to stand independently the third day they turned it on," said patient Rob Summers, who was initially completely paralyzed below the chest. Rob Summers, standing with the aid of supports during therapy in Louisville Kentucky.
Summers had what's called epidural stimulation. In December 2009, an electrode array a long, thin tape with electrodes on it was implanted internally over the top of his spinal cord. A wire attached to the array was threaded internally down his back to a pouch on his back hip containing the stimulating device, Edgerton said. The box can be programmed to give continuous electrical currents sensory cues to specific locations on the lower spinal cord that correspond to nerve cell bundles linked to the hips, legs, and feet, said Jonathan Hodes, chairman of the department of neurosurgery at the University of Louisville.
Doctors have used these implants for years to manage pain, but this is a new innovation, said John McDonald, director of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. McDonald treated the late actor Christopher Reeve after he was paralyzed in a riding accident. "This is very exciting. It will make a big impact. If it works in one person, it's going to work in many people," said McDonald, who believes the technology may help about 10% to 15% of people with spinal cord injuries. The surgical procedure was followed up with daily physical therapy sessions, and Summers has regained some sexual and bladder function, doctors said.
The procedure is not ready for the clinic, cautioned Susan Harkema, of the University of Louisville's Department of Neurosurgery and Frazier Rehab Institute, where Summers was treated. The scientists will test the treatment in a second patient this summer. McDonald said the technology won't help everyone. "This has the potential to dramatically change the lives," McDonald said. "It's not a perfect cure, but it doesn't need to be." The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
Source