Wow of the Week: Son of Superman talks about paralysis treatment clinial trial

Matthew Reeve lost his father Christopher Reeve, who became well-known for his portrayal of Superman, about 10 years ago due to secondary complications from paralysis, caused by a horse riding accident. His family foundation Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation is sponsoring a clinical trial for a device to restore movement in paralyzed patients by sending an electrical current to the spinal cord. He spoke with New Scientist about some early successes epidural stimulation has had on four patients and its interest in recruiting 36 more patients with spinal cord injuries to undergo the paralysis treatment.

Heres how it works. The 16-electrode stimulator is implanted in the same place on each patients spine, no matter which location the spinal cord was severed. The user applies a continuous electrical current at varying frequencies and intensities to specific regions in the lower spinal cord where there are dense bundles of nerves that control the hips, knees, ankles and toes. The effect of the device is to mimic signals that would normally be transmitted by the brain to artificially rekindle movement in those regions, Reeve said.

So far the results for the paralysis treatment sound impressive. The four adults treated with the implant, each of whom has a spinal cord injury, have been able to move their legs, feet and toes. The article also notes that therapy restored to each of the men, who are young and fit,bladder and bowel control and sexual function.

In the expanded clinical trial of the paralysis treatment, it will seek a more diverse group of patients. They will be men and women of different ages with varying degrees of spinal injuries who have lived with the condition for different lengths of time.

To fund the trial it has raised one-third of the $15 million. The foundation is pursuing small donations to fund the study its looking for $36 per person contributions through the foundations The Big Idea website.

Two of the principal investigators for the first segment of the clinical trial each have doctorates and are professors of rehab research. Susan Harkema is the rehabilitation research director of the University of Louisvilles Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center. Claudia Angeli is a senior researcher with the Human Locomotion Research Center at Frazier Rehab Institute, where Harkema is also the director of research. The website says that as the [second phase of the] study commences, it will update this page to reflect the full research team

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Wow of the Week: Son of Superman talks about paralysis treatment clinial trial