It still needed some support, but the use of electric shocks in some patients made the leg muscles strong enough to support the weight. “Within five days, without any form of rehabilitation or training and after years of complete paralysis. That is a wonderful result,” said study leader Dr. Sanjay Harhangi.
“This also felt like a special moment for the patients. Inserting the device that gives the electric pulses is also a relatively simple procedure.”
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Spinal cord injury for at least four years
In this new research, a certain nerve node in the lower back is stimulated with electric impulses, causing muscle reactions in the legs. According to the researchers, this nerve node, spinal ganglion, is often overlooked by spinal cord injury researchers. “They were focused on stimulating the spinal cord itself and did not look at the nerve node. We did this for the first time,” said PhD student Sadaf Soloukey.
Five people participated in the study, all of whom have had a complete spinal cord injury for at least four years, so that they have been unable to do anything with their legs for years. All participants managed to activate the thigh muscles and some managed to stand with support.
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The lead investigator actually came up with the idea by accident. The electric pulses were already used to treat nerve pain, but had the side effect that people just started moving their legs. “When I heard that at a symposium about pain, I was made to think. Could you use this button to control leg muscles and make paralyzed people walk again?”
Not yet clear if they can walk
It has now been successful to let people stand, it is not yet clear whether they can let people walk. More research is needed for this. “We still have to find out whether we can get their legs to make a precise walking movement. How strong must the currents be and at what frequency, for example.”
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