Paralysis caused by a stroke often makes sufferers lose hope of recovering. But a recent study provides promising hope for a way to overcome the paralysis of stroke patients.
A stroke has prevented Heather Rendulic from moving her left hand much, so simple activities such as tying shoelaces or cutting food cannot be done.
“I live with one hand in the world [yang semuanya menggunakan] two hands. You don’t realize how many things you have to do with two hands until you only have one that works,” he explains.
That’s why the 33-year-old woman from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania volunteered for an experiment conducted for the first time in the world, in which researchers implanted an electronic device that stung her spinal nerves at points that control hand and arm movements.
When they turned on the device, he was able to grip and manipulate objects, such as moving soup cans, opening locks, until at the end of the fourth week of research, he was able to cut steaks.
A stroke patient uses his non-dominant hand during a therapy session with neuropsychologist Johanna Moreno at the Casaverde Neurological and Physical Rehabilitation Center in Navalcarnero, Spain, October 20, 2022. (REUTERS/Susana Vera)
The device is not a drug, because the advances disappeared once the researchers removed the implants. The first study was only followed by Heather and another stroke survivor. However, the results of the study, published last February, represent a promising leap towards restoring bodily mobility from this very common type of paralysis.
University of Pittsburgh Lecturer Marco Capogrosso, who led the new research with colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University, said, “Once the simulation is turned on, they can immediately do things they couldn’t do before.”
Scientists Research Spinal Stimulation with Electronic Implants to Help Stroke Sufferers Move
Nearly 800,000 people in the US suffer strokes each year, which are a leading cause of disability. Even after months of rehabilitation, more than half of sufferers end up with permanent hand and arm dysfunction, from muscle weakness to further paralysis.
Experiments by various research groups have found that implanting electrodes to stimulate the lower spine holds promise for restoring leg movement in people who are paralyzed after spinal cord injury. Some of them have even been able to walk on their feet.
However, paralysis of the upper limbs has received little attention and is inherently more challenging to treat.
Vietnam War veteran Stephen Harkavy participates in therapy to help him recover from a stroke at the Burke Rehabilitation Center in White Plains, New York, Nov. 10, 2014. (AP/Seth Wenig)
The brain has to signal several nerves that control the way the shoulder lifts, the wrist rotates and flexes the fingers, and the damage caused by a stroke makes it difficult for those signals to convey properly.
Returning, Heather said, “To be honest, before the try, I didn’t expect to recover. […] But now everything we do takes away that hopelessness. This technology is helping me recover in ways I never thought I could after a stroke.”
With National Institutes of Health funding, Marco is now further researching the approach with other stroke survivors. The researchers have set up a company to further develop the technology. [rd/jm]
