In a potential breakthrough for the treatment of spinal-cord injuries, a man paralyzed below the chest has regained some ability to move and stand through the use of electrical stimulation coupled with intense physical rehabilitation—a combination previously shown to work only in animals.
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"I didn't move a toe for four years," said Mr. Summers. "I stood up on the third day they turned the stimulator on," he said. "There are not enough words to describe how I felt."
Under stimulation, Mr. Summers is also able to voluntarily move his hips, ankles and toes. And he has gotten back some bladder and sexual function.
"This probably changes the field fairly dramatically," said Ronald Reeves, vice chairman of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who wasn't involved in the research. "It's the first time that there's compelling scientific evidence that you can, with the electrostimulation of the spinal cord, create a favorable motor response."
As in most spine injuries, Mr. Summers' spinal cord wasn't totally severed, though the damage was severe enough to prevent the brain from signaling the spinal cord to initiate movement.
"This probably changes the field fairly dramatically," said Ronald Reeves, vice chairman of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who wasn't involved in the research. "It's the first time that there's compelling scientific evidence that you can, with the electrostimulation of the spinal cord, create a favorable motor response."
Link
"I didn't move a toe for four years," said Mr. Summers. "I stood up on the third day they turned the stimulator on," he said. "There are not enough words to describe how I felt."
Under stimulation, Mr. Summers is also able to voluntarily move his hips, ankles and toes. And he has gotten back some bladder and sexual function.
"This probably changes the field fairly dramatically," said Ronald Reeves, vice chairman of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who wasn't involved in the research. "It's the first time that there's compelling scientific evidence that you can, with the electrostimulation of the spinal cord, create a favorable motor response."
As in most spine injuries, Mr. Summers' spinal cord wasn't totally severed, though the damage was severe enough to prevent the brain from signaling the spinal cord to initiate movement.
"This probably changes the field fairly dramatically," said Ronald Reeves, vice chairman of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., who wasn't involved in the research. "It's the first time that there's compelling scientific evidence that you can, with the electrostimulation of the spinal cord, create a favorable motor response."
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