Test shows device helps people with spinal cord injuries recover | Science

A device that stimulates spinal nerves with electrical pulses appears to speed recovery from severe spinal cord injuries, doctors say.

An international trial found that patients who lost part or all of their hands and arms after spinal cord injuries regained strength, control and sensation when given stimulation during standard rehabilitation.

Although the improvements were small, doctors and patients described them as life-changing as they impacted patients' daily activities and quality of life.

“It actually helps people move more easily, including people who have completely lost movement in their hands and arms,” ​​said Chet Moritz, a professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle.

“When you combine this spinal stimulation with intensive treatment of the hands and arms, the effects gradually accumulate over time and are effective even when the stimulator is turned off.”

Rather than being implanted, the Arc-Ex device is worn externally and uses electrodes placed on the skin near the parts of the spinal cord responsible for controlling certain movements and functions.

Researchers believe that electrical stimulation may help nerves that remain intact after injury to send signals and eventually partially restore communication between the brain and paralyzed body parts. . In more than half of patients with spinal cord injuries, some of the nerves that cross the injury site are still intact.

Melanie Reid, a journalist and author who fell from a horse 14 years ago, broke her neck at age 52 and has little function below her armpits, took part in the UK arm of the trial in Scotland. After a trial that involved two months of rehabilitation and another two months of stimulation rehabilitation, she regained some grip strength in her “useless” left hand.

“My left hand is much stronger,” she said. “I've got a lot more grip back. I can use her left hand to scroll on my tablet or phone, undo my seatbelt, and even put her hair back in a ponytail, which I couldn't do before,” she said. Told.

“Everyone thinks so. [with a] If you have a spinal cord injury, all you want is to be able to walk again. But in the case of quadriplegia or quadriplegia, the most important thing is the ability to use your hands. There are no miracles with spinal cord injuries, but small improvements can be life-changing. ”

uplift trial, Reported in Nature Medicineenrolled 65 quadriplegic patients from 14 countries. Of the 60 people who completed the trial, 43 showed improvements in muscle strength and function, and 52 reported improvements in quality of life. The device, made by Onward Medical, a company co-founded by study researcher Grégoire Courtine, was approved in the United States this year and could soon be approved in Europe.

Dr Mariel Purcell, who led part of the Uplift trial at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injury Unit in Glasgow, said the treatment was safe and had “some benefit” for patients who suffered an injury more than a year ago. He said it has been proven. “For newly injured patients undergoing standard rehabilitation, non-invasive spinal cord stimulation can provide significant benefit,” she said. “There is no other treatment like this.”

Another patient at the trial at Craig Hospital in Colorado, Sherone Campbell, suffered a neck injury while wrestling with a friend in 2014, leaving her paralyzed. Although he regained some movement through rehabilitation immediately after the accident, he experienced even more recovery during the trial. His typing speed has improved from his 25 words per minute to his 33 words per minute, and he is now able to help out more around the house, such as cooking and playing with the children. . “It's really big to see an effect at this point in the injury,” he said.

Professor Corteen said the trial “proved the principle” and said researchers would now investigate whether it could help with other functions such as walking. “This is not a cure, and it's important to stress that, but we are at the beginning of a journey that makes recovery from spinal cord injury a realistic possibility,” he said.