Implanted Stimulator Offers Potential Spinal Paralysis Rehabilitation
From: Medical Design Technology - 01/12/2015

Even after complete spinal paralysis, the human spinal cord is able to
trigger activity in the leg muscles using electrical pulses from an implanted
stimulator. This has already been demonstrated in earlier studies conducted
in Vienna. Now, as part of a joint international project, a team of young
researchers at the Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at
MedUni Vienna has succeeded in identifying the mechanisms the spinal cord
uses to control this muscle activity. These mechanisms still work even if the
neural pathways from the brain are physically interrupted as the result of a
spinal cord injury. This is the first time throughout the world that the
spinal-cord activation patterns for walking have been decoded.

These new findings relating to the basic patterns for triggering and
coordinating muscle movements in the legs should also help in developing new
approaches to rehabilitation aimed at utilizing those neural networks that
are still functional following an accident and the resulting paralysis by
stimulating them electrically. This opens the way to new therapeutic options
for helping paraplegics to at least partially regain lost rhythmic movements.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.mdtmag.com/news/2015/01/implanted-stimulator-offers-potential-spinal-paralysis-rehabilitation