How electric shocks to the spine are helping paralysed men move again

US researchers have helped four paralyzed men regain movement in their legs and feet using electric shocks.

17:16 08 April 2014

Researchers at the University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA have published a study which pioneers the use of electric shocks to treat paralysis. The study, which was published in UK science magazine The Brain, showed how they helped four paralyzed men to regain movement in their legs and feet using electric shocks sent through a device that was implanted in their spines. 

 

Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, said that the study provides hope to people with serious spinal cord injury. 

 

"The big message here is that people with spinal cord injury of the type these men had no longer need to think they have a lifelong sentence of paralysis. They can achieve some level of voluntary function.” 

 

The idea of using electric shock was first tested on college basketball star Rob Summers – a victim of a hit and run car accident in 2006 who became paralyzed from the neck down. In 2009, he underwent a procedure and he was able to stand and walk after three days. 

 

The procedure was applied on other three paralysis patients who later on were able to wiggle their toes, lift their legs, and stand briefly.