Meet a pioneer in stroke recovery

Holly Ulland, a retired schoolteacher from New Jersey, and her son, Aaron, have always been extremely close. She described her son as “very compassionate, loves animals, has always been a handyman”.

Young and capable, Aaron appeared to be in perfect health, until one morning in January 2019.

“I woke up to use the bathroom and couldn’t get out of bed,” he told correspondent Susan Spencer. “I had to grab something to get out of my bed. And then I put my two feet on the ground and walked a few feet and fell.

Holly remembers, “I went down the hall, past his room, found him on the floor, but he said he couldn’t get up.”

“It must have been terrifying,” Spencer said.

“Yeah,” Aaron replied.

At just 39 years old, Aaron had suffered a stroke, paralyzing his left side. “He tried to talk to me,” Holly said. “But his words were all gargled. And I was terrified that he would never speak again.

After four days in intensive care, he had regained his speech, but not much else. He then spent two months in rehab. “A neurologist told us that Aaron would never move his arm again. And when we pulled into the parking lot, I literally put his face in my hands and said, ‘Don’t even accept that.’ “

According to Dr. Diana Tzeng, professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, a stroke occurs “whenever there is a problem with the blood flow to the brain. The most common type is caused by some sort of blockage in an artery ”.

Spencer asked, “People generally assume that stroke only affects older people. Is that the case?”

“Anyone can have a stroke, even young people,” Tzeng said. “And there is a worrying trend where there are more young adults with stroke.”

Surprisingly, an American has a stroke every 40 secondsand 10 to 15 percent of stroke victims are only 18 to 49 years old. As to why this is happening. “About 50% of the time, when a youngster has a stroke, we can’t figure out the cause,” Tzeng said.

The cause of Aaron Ulland’s stroke is still a mystery, but the consequences are terrifyingly clear.

Tzeng said, “There is no regeneration of brain cells. After you have had a stroke, the brain cells that were affected die. For some patients, we offer intensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, but in terms of the interventions we can provide to patients, still none to help them find what they have lost. ”

But Aaron is determined to find what was lost, which is why he mastered a three-wheeler when he couldn’t ride a regular bike … and why he said yes to being patient one in a groundbreaking study at Thomas Jefferson University.

Her mother wasn’t so sure. When asked for her reaction to being told, ‘We’re going to put electrodes in your son’s brain,’ she replied, ‘Honestly, I was terrified. But I also knew it was Aaron’s decision.

And he didn’t hesitate? “No,” Holly said. “He kept saying, ‘I want my arm back.’

So, last October, while the cameras were rolling, doctors implanted several electrodes in Aaron’s brain. It took nine hours.

Jefferson Health neurosurgeon Dr Robert Rosenwasser, one of the two lead physicians in the study, said: “We repeated this hundreds of times before the surgery to find out how we were going to do it, to find out precisely where we were. were going to put it on. “

Thomas Jefferson University professor of neurology, Dr Mijail Serruya, the other senior physician, described the electrodes that were implanted: “The electrodes in this study are incredibly small, the size of a baby aspirin. or an ordinary M&M, therefore smaller than an M&M peanut. And they go right to the surface of the cortex, outside of the brain. “

The role of the electrodes, said Rosenwasser, “is to record the electrical signals from his existing brain cells, take those electrical signals and convert them into the movement he wishes to make: move his fingers, move his hand, move his arm. “

In other words, Aaron’s blow damaged the connection between his brain and his arm. These electrodes repair him, sending signals from his brain to a motorized splint. And alto! Aaron can move his arm again!

“It has shown us that someone, almost two years now after a pretty severe stroke, can recover their function,” Serruya said.

And that’s only the beginning.

Spencer asked, “There are so many things we do that we take for granted, like taking a cup, or he said he was having a hard time closing anything because he couldn’t. use that hand. How well do you think technology can help people regain their fine motor skills? “

“Well, I’m not sure I’ll be on this Earth to see it, but I think we’ll have people playing the piano and being concert violinists,” Rosenwasser said.

Aaron’s electrodes were only installed for a three-month trial. But doctors are seeing the day when – like a pacemaker – this technology will be wireless and implantable, completely eliminating the arm splint.

Serruya said: “I think that’s the goal, that in the next five, 10, 15, 20 years, we will have a medical device that will be available to people who have had a stroke, so that ‘They can go to their doctor, their neurosurgery team, get this device, and regardless of their level of physiotherapy and occupational therapy, they can cross that plateau and continue and restore movement. “

Spencer asked Aaron, “Do your doctors think this could be a game-changer?”

“Yeah. It’ll help other stroke victims, and they can look at my stuff,” he replied. “Yeah. They call me the trailblazer.”

“Yeah. Do you like it?”

“Yeah!” he smiled.

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Story produced by Amiel Weisfogel. Publisher: Carol Ross.