2024-04-19 06:39:48
“Raise your bed and walk”. The miracle of the New Testament was made a reality by a group of American scientists and the 25-year-old former baseball player, Rob Summers, the first paraplegic who managed to stand up and take the first steps! The young American with the iron will owes his incredible achievement to an implant in the spine, which “produces” movements through electrical stimulation.
“For someone who hasn’t been able to move a toe for four years, being able to stand is a unique feeling,” he explains. The case of the player from Oregon is special and the “miracle” may not be repeated for some time. When he was paralyzed by a car accident four years ago, his physical condition was excellent. He also had retained some sense of movement in his lower body. What his therapists did was train him hard for two years to strengthen the neural network of his spine.
He then underwent surgery to implant the electrical stimulation machine, which mimics the nerve signals his brain would normally send to cause movement. Today he stands for up to four minutes straight, exercises muscle tension and takes steps on a treadmill. Through electrical stimulation it moves the hips, knees, ankles and toes, while also partially restoring the bladder and sexual function.
As Dr. Susan Harkema from the University of Louisville, Kentucky, who followed Summers, explains, the “key” to the unique achievement was that scientists realized they could restore movement without the help of the brain. The research was funded by the foundation of paraplegic actor Christopher Reeve and the US National Institutes of Health and is published in the scientific journal Lancet.
Myrto Butsis
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