Three paraplegic patients who could not move or feel their legs walked again thanks to an implant that electrically stimulated their spinal corda development that could become widespread in a few years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.
This technology has enabled three paraplegics “to return to standing, walking, cycling and swimming,” according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine.
The three patients, all men, were not only unable to move their legs but had lost all feeling in them as a result of accidents that damaged their spinal cord.
The spinal cordcontained in the spinal column, is an extension of the brain and controls many movements, which can be lost if contact with the brain is damaged.
In the case of the three patients, it was possible to reverse the situation.
In Lausanne, a team led by the Swiss surgeon Jocelyne Bloch and the French neuroscientist Grégoire Courtine implanted some 15 electrodes that make it possible to electrically stimulate various areas of the spinal cord.
This is not a first, but the culmination of ten years of treatment of this type with the aim of turning it into a therapy that changes the lives of many people.
The idea of sending an electrical current to restore lost movement dates back several decades and was first put into practice in 2011, when a paraplegic was able to get back on his feet. AFP/by Julien Dury
