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After Years of Paralysis, a Man Walks the Length of a Football Field
After Years of Paralysis, a Man Walks the Length of a Football Field
An electrical stimulation device combined with intensive rehabilitation restores walking ability to a spinal cord injury patient
By Emily Willingham on September 24, 2018
Credit: Getty Images
Jered Chinnock's mantra was “lift the leg, kick the foot out.” The paired actions were all part of a tough, years-long rehabilitation routine the Wisconsin man took on after a snowmobile accident left his lower limbs paralyzed when he was 26 years old. Coupled with the arduous rehab, Chinnock had a device implanted in his lower spine, relaying electrical signals from brain to muscles under battery power. The study team working with him hoped that one day the repetitive, targeted motions together with signals from the device would eventually make him able to walk again.
That day has come. The years of lifting the leg and kicking out the foot have paid off. Researchers reported September 24 in Nature Medicine that Chinnock, now 29 years old, is the first person with complete lower limb paralysis to take steps independently.
“This is very exciting research,” says Ann Parr, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study. “There have been no real treatment options, and this has been very frustrating for patients, their families and the neurosurgical community.”
...
An electrical stimulation device combined with intensive rehabilitation restores walking ability to a spinal cord injury patient
By Emily Willingham on September 24, 2018
Credit: Getty Images
Jered Chinnock's mantra was “lift the leg, kick the foot out.” The paired actions were all part of a tough, years-long rehabilitation routine the Wisconsin man took on after a snowmobile accident left his lower limbs paralyzed when he was 26 years old. Coupled with the arduous rehab, Chinnock had a device implanted in his lower spine, relaying electrical signals from brain to muscles under battery power. The study team working with him hoped that one day the repetitive, targeted motions together with signals from the device would eventually make him able to walk again.
That day has come. The years of lifting the leg and kicking out the foot have paid off. Researchers reported September 24 in Nature Medicine that Chinnock, now 29 years old, is the first person with complete lower limb paralysis to take steps independently.
“This is very exciting research,” says Ann Parr, an assistant professor of neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study. “There have been no real treatment options, and this has been very frustrating for patients, their families and the neurosurgical community.”
...
More at link.
