The spinal implant could be a breakthrough in paralysis

MONDAY, Sept. 24, 2018 (HealthDay News) – A paraplegic man has regained the ability to move his legs and walk with the help of an implanted electrode that stimulates his spinal cord, researchers at Mayo Clinic say.

Surgeons implanted the electrode below the 29-year-old Jorn Chinnock spinal cord injury level. A snowmobile accident in 2013 caused a total loss of motor control and mid-back feel.

But after the new therapy, he "was able to regain the voluntary control of the movement in his legs," said Deputy Principal Investigator, Dr. Kendall Lee, neurosurgeon and director of Neural Engineering Labs at Mayo Clinic in Rochester , Minnesota. The "mind or thoughts of Chinnock were able to drive the movement in the legs".

Similar results were also reported Monday for patients who received the same type of treatment in a study conducted at the University of Louisville.

Describing the case of Chinnock, the researchers said that he can now walk the length of a football field, about 111 meters.

"We managed to convince him to run independently and take his own action," Lee said. "The number of steps that he was able to cross was considerable."

New perspectives on the spinal cord

Researchers do not know why this electrical stimulation allows the brain to regain control of the legs, Lee said.

He noted that the electrode is placed "well below the level of the injury," stimulating the nerve tissue that is still connected to the leg muscles.

According to Kristin Zhao, co-principal investigator and director of the Mayo Clinic's Assistance and Restoration Technology Laboratory, it is possible that, despite the injury, there are residual intact nerve fibers capable of transmitting cerebral signals to the legs. .

If this is the case, the brain is likely sending signals to re-stimulated nerves further into the spinal cord that are specifically related to walking, said Dr. Brian Kopell, neurosurgeon and director of the Mount Health System Neuromodulation Center. Sinai. York City.

"We are beginning to understand that there are specific wired circuits related to walking in the spinal cord itself," said Kopell, who was not involved in the study. "The brain works in conjunction with these locomotor sectors in the spinal cord to create the behavior we know as walking."