Staff Writer
A
team of scientists at the University of Louisville have recently made a
breakthrough towards healing spinal cord injuries for paralyzed patients. Scientists performed a study that involved
sending electrical stimulation to patients’ spinal cords which allowed them to
move.
In
order to send the electrical stimulation to the spinal cord, a stimulator was
surgically implanted and controlled by a remote. Four patients were involved in the study and
by the end, all of them were each able to move both legs. This ranged from wiggling toes, to moving
their ankles, to even lifting their legs.
All four were even able to sit up without any support. The study also demonstrates additional health
improvements due to the slight mobility.
Although
this is a big breakthrough, it will still be a long time before scientists are
finished. Despite being able to move, the
patients are still unable to walk. When
they do move, it can only be one leg at a time and they have to turn the
stimulator off and back on again before they can move the second leg.
Still,
more than 1,700 patients have asked about using the electrical stimulation to
help them move and scientists have funding that will allow them to do the study
with eight more patients.
