Three paralyzed patients walk again thanks to spinal cord implants

Three patients who suffered a complete spinal cord injury they have been able stand up, walk and even play sports thanks to optimized implants to electrically stimulate the region that controls the muscles of the trunk and legs, combined with new software with artificial intelligence.

Specifically, electrical stimulation with electrode paddles specifically designed for spinal cord injuries has short-term restore independent motor movements of three men with complete sensorimotor paralysis, as published ‘Nature Medicine’.

The technique developed by Swiss researchers, which is part of a clinical trial still in progress, would show that stimulation treatments specially designed for each patientinstead of more general ones, have “superior efficacy” and in “more diverse motor activities”, even in more serious spinal cord injuries.

the neuroscientist Gregoire Courtine and the neurosurgeon jocelyne blochresponsible for the experiment, together with their teams designed a new palette of electrodes that reaches all nerves associated with movements of the legs and trunkwhich they tested on three male volunteers between the ages of 29 and 41.

A technology that the scientists combined with “a personalized computational framework” to “accurately position the electrode palette for each of the patients and personalize the activity stimulation programs.” This allowed them to restore in a single day the ability to walk independently and other motor activities, such as pedal and swimin all three patients, who have complete paralysis in the legs.

According to Bloch, in statements collected by the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), the key was being able to insert “a longer and wider implant, with electrodes arranged to coincide precisely with the nerve roots of the spinal cord”, which allowed them to access the neurons that control the muscles. Thus, the flexible implants, placed under the vertebrae in contact with the spinal cord, are capable of modulating the neurons that regulate the activity of specific muscle groups.

According to Courtine, within a single day of implant activation, patients “they were able to stand, walk, cycle, swim, and control trunk movements“, thanks to specific programs for each type of activity.

These three men have been able to carry out these activities independently, with the help of a tablet, outside the laboratory and, after a few months, according to the EPFL, a training program has allowed them to recover muscle mass, increase their autonomy of movement or take some standing in a bar