Here’s a very good story to finish your week on a high note: a 25-year-old paraplegic is now walking again, due to a groundbreaking procedure developed by neuroscientists on the University of Louisville, UCLA and Cal Tech. The Oregon man, Rob Summers, was paralyzed below the chest in 2006, once you have hit by a speeding car. This week, however, doctors announced that Summers can now get up on his own and remain standing for as much as four minutes. With the assistance of a distinct harness, he may also take steps on a treadmill and might move his lower extremities for the primary time in years. It was all made possible by a spinal implant that emits small pulses of electricity, designed to copy signals that the brain usually sends to coordinate movement. Ahead of receiving the implant in 2009, Summers underwent two years of teaching on a treadmill, with a harness supporting his weight and researchers moving his legs. This week’s breakthrough comes after 30 years of study, though scientists acknowledge that this brand of epidural stimulation still must be tested on a broader sample of subjects before any definitive conclusions may well be drawn. Summers, meanwhile, seems understandably elated. “This procedure has completely changed my life,” the previous baseball player said. “With the intention to pick up my foot and step down again was unbelievable, but beyond all of that my sense of well-being has changed.” We will only imagine.
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