Replace the damaged spinal cord features a wireless system that can send an electrical signal.
This seems to be the solution for those who, due to spinal cord injuries, have lost the use of limbs. The project, called the Stimo (Stimulation Movement Overground) , has, so far, managed to bring back six paraplegic patients.
The secret lies in the electrical stimulation of the spinal cord through a wireless implant and a combined use of physical therapy performed with a special support, which allows the patient’s weight to be supported during the exercises. After a lengthy rehabilitation process, therefore, patients managed to regain the use of the legs, one of these after nine years of an accident that had led him to paralysis.
This new way of working has made it possible to restore the neurological function and to preserve it even when the stimulation was interrupted. The discovery was made by Professor Grégoire Courtine Of theInternational paraplegic FOUNDATION (IRP) of the Federal Polytechnic of Lausanne, following a series of studies carried out in Los Angeles at the foundation born to want Of the actor Christopher Reeve and his wife Dana.
Courtine’s studies have involved numerous patients and, even before, mice and monkeys. The idea is to apply electrodes on the spine that controls the legs, so as to reproduce in an artificial way all those signals that the brain sends to the legs, but because of the interruption of the marrow, fail to get to destination.
The system is wireless, and is comparable to an electro-stimulator, connected with a mini computer. Only limit, the state in which the nerve fibers are still present, and the methods of recovery, which vary from person to person, but Professor Courtine is certain to be on the right track.