Breath of Hope
From: Stanford Medicine - Summer 08

Darren Dent, 42, suffers from ALS and can no longer take the act of breathing
for granted: Respiratory failure is the most common cause of death among
those with the neurodegenerative disease. So Dent's hedging his bets on a
clinical trial with a breathing device that he hopes will keep him alive. He
is the first patient on the West Coast to be fitted with the apparatus, which
aims to shore up the diaphragm - that thin, dome-shaped muscle beneath the
lungs that helps us take in air. When switched on, the machine (about the
size of a videotape) sends pulses of electricity to the diaphragm through
fine wires implanted in Dent's chest. Each pulse acts like an electronic
push-up for the muscle, in theory helping to keep it functioning and fit.  

Read the entire article at:
http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2008summer/breath_of_hope.html

Video:
http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2008summer/video_breath_of_hope.html