New Spinal Implant Ables Paralysed Patients To Walk Again

Three people with spinal cord injuries, restricted to wheelchairs for years, have regained the ability to walk due to a very innovative implant, which has helped to remap and regenerate damaged nerves in their spines. 

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Gertan Oskan (35), Sebastian Tobler (48), and David M'zee are the three paraplegic patients who have been paralyzed by spinal cord injuries for several years and that have received the treatment described as a "significant breakthrough."

A clinical trial treatment, results which are published in the journal Nature, introduces "targeted spinal cord stimulation neurotechnologies that enabled voluntary control of walking in individuals who had sustained a spinal cord injury more than four years ago and presented with permanent motor deficits or complete paralysis despite extensive rehabilitation."

A team at the Federal Polytechnic School of Laussane (EPFL), in Switzerland,  has developed an electrical implant that, when inserted around the spine, boosts electrical signals from the brain to the legs. Normally after a severe spine injury, such as those suffered by these three men, the nerves won't be able to transport the electrical signals sent by the brain; the electrical implant boosts said signals.

"Using an implanted pulse generator with real-time triggering capabilities, we delivered trains of spatially selective stimulation to the lumbosacral spinal cord with timing that coincided with the intended movement," the study explains.

The implant, when turned on, helped the participants regain control of certain paralyzed muscles, which lead to "locomotor performance improved during rehabilitation." Under the right situations, and with the implant working, the patients whose previous doctors told them they would never walk again, were able to walk for around one kilometer. 

However, the implant has gone further and has started to regenerate certain nerves and patients have been able to walk as further as 8 steps without the implant being on. "Locomotor performance improved during rehabilitation. After a few months, participants regained voluntary control over previously paralyzed muscles without stimulation and could walk or cycle in ecological settings during spatiotemporal stimulation."

Even if the implant is on a test base, "these results establish a technological framework for improving neurological recovery and supporting the activities of daily living after spinal cord injury." But the system is still too expensive and still not safe enough to be used outside of the prepared and controlled space of the EPFL laboratory. It is not yet a cure, nor an equipment to be used on a daily basis. However, it opens great possibilities in the search for cures.