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An American man who was paralyzed from the waist after a snowmobile accident five years ago is now able to get up and walk with help after an innovative surgery.
The treatment consisted of implanting a spinal cord stimulator into Jered Chinnock's back beneath the site of the lesion, followed by physical therapy over a period of 43 weeks.
Now that the pacemaker is activated, Mr. Chinnock can think and walk intentionally with the help of a wheeled walker, with trainers providing occasional assistance and support.
This is the first time that chronically dormant spinal cord circuits have been sufficiently reactivated to allow a patient to get up and walk again.
"What this tells us is that the neural networks located under a spinal cord injury can still function after paralysis," said Dr. Kendell Lee, co-investigator, neurosurgeon and director of labs. Neural engineering of the Mayo Clinic.
Mr Chinnock, from Minnesota, who is now 29, was injured in the spine in the middle of his back during a snowmobile accident in 2013.
He completely lost his movements, his functions and his sensations under the position of the injury – in fact, from the middle of his torso down.
In 2016, after 22 weeks of physical therapy that did not promote recovery, an electrode was implanted near the spinal cord, allowing neurons to receive signals when they wanted to get up or take a step.
The electrode, a product used for a long time to treat pain, is connected to a pulse generator located under the skin of Mr Chinnock 's abdomen and communicates wirelessly with an external controller.
During 113 visits back to the Mayo Clinic for 43 weeks, Chinnock began increasing his voluntary capacity to take measures with assistance.
Eventually, he became able to walk on the floor using a wheeled walker and walk on a treadmill by placing his arms on support bars to help balance.
When the stimulation of the electrode was turned off, Mr. Chinnock remained paralyzed.
Since he still can not feel his legs, the researchers place mirrors on his legs to see what happens.
In total, during the individual therapy sessions, Mr. Chinnock was able to walk 331 steps over 102 meters and walk for 16 minutes at an average speed of 0.2 meters per second.
"This technology is not about pushing back the nerves and, in fact, the device we used to stimulate the nerve is well below the level of the lesion, so we know it's unlikely
However, the researchers are not quite sure what caused the seemingly miraculous result.
"Now, I think the real challenge starts, it's to understand how that happened, why and what patients will respond," said Dr. Kristin Zhao, co-principal investigator and lab director. Mayo Clinic's assistance and restoration technology.
The findings of the research, conducted by the Mayo Clinic in collaboration with the University of California at Los Angeles, are published in the journal Nature Medicine.
The search surgery has since been performed on another patient, but scientists have not revealed whether similar results had been recorded.
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