Spinal Implant to Help Paralyzed Walk Again
Researchers say a new electric device placed in three paralyzed patients has helped them walk over again.
The lower bodies of the three patients were left paralyzed after they suffered spinal cord injuries. But a device implanted in the spinal cord was able to send electrical signals to the muscles to permit them to stand, walk and do.
The device is designed to copy an action of the brain, in which it sends signals to the spinal cord that upshot in muscle movement. When the spinal cord receives the encephalon signals, it stimulates a collection of nerve cells that tin can activate unlike muscles.
In patients with serious spinal cord injuries, letters from the brain have difficulty reaching the fretfulness. But scientists have discovered that neurons – which receive and send signals for muscle movements – often still work in injured patients.
Past research into spinal cord injuries has centered on the use of electric devices to stimulate neurons, the publication Nature reports.
Grégoire Courtine and Jocelyne Bloch of the Swiss Federal Constitute of Technology in Lausanne led the latest experiments. The results were published in a study in Nature Medicine.
The experiments involved three men who had been injured in motor bike accidents. The patients ages were 29-, 32- and 41-years-former. Their injuries were to an area called the thoracic spine, which is below the neck and to a higher place the lowest part of the dorsum.
The researchers reported that all three patients who got the spinal cord implants were able to take their first steps within an hour after receiving them.
Over the next half-dozen months, the patients regained the ability to take part in more advanced walking activities, the study found. They were as well able to ride bicycles and swim in community settings. The individuals can control the nerve-stimulation devices themselves by using a personal electronic device, the researchers said.
Michel Roccati, from Italia, is one of the patients. He told reporters that the showtime stride he took while using the device was "a very emotional experience." Roccati added that he can now represent several hours and walk nearly a kilometer.
Other researchers take attempted to help paralyzed patients walk by stimulating fretfulness through the dorsum of the spine. Just the Federal Institute of Technology'south Courtine told Reuters that his team redesigned the devices so signals would enter the spine from the sides. This method permits more direct targeting and activation of spinal cord areas, he said.
The squad then developed artificial intelligence (AI) systems linked to the device. The AI controls electrodes on the device to send signals to stimulate individual fretfulness that command muscles needed for walking and other activities.
When the device was implanted, patients could "immediately activate their legs and footstep," said researcher Jocelyne Bloch.
However, considering the patients' muscles were weak from non being used, they needed aid with supporting their weight, the researchers said. It as well took some time for them to acquire to work with the engineering science.
Even though the patients have the ability to perform several kinds of activities, the team said they did not regain completely natural movements. Still, Bloch said, "The more they train, the more they start lifting their muscles, the more fluid it becomes."
Roccati said he activates the implant daily at home and continues to get stronger. "I run into the improvement every day," he said, adding, "I feel amend when I use it."
I'm Bryan Lynn.
Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Nature reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English.
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Quiz - Spinal Cord Implant Helps Paralyzed People Walk Again
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Words in This Story
paralyzed – adj. unable to move part of the body such as arms or legs
implant – v. to place something into someone's body in a medical functioning
stimulate – v. to make something happen or develop more
avant-garde – adj. having adult or progressed to a late stage
artificial intelligence – northward. an area of reckoner science that deals with giving machines the ability to seem like they accept human intelligence
electrode – n. a conductor through which electricity enters or leaves an object, substance or region
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