A Parkinson’s patient can now walk 6 km (3.7 miles) thanks to an implant targeting the spinal cord. The Guardian reports that the man – “Marc”, 62, from Bordeaux, France – developed severe mobility impairments due to a degenerative disease. “I could hardly walk without falling frequently, several times a day,” he said in a statement announcing the breakthrough. “In certain situations, like entering an elevator, I was stomping in place, like I was frozen there, you could say.” Wearing the spinal implant allows him to walk “almost normally” as the research team plans a full clinical trial.
Marc underwent a “precision neurosurgical procedure” two years ago in Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), which helped facilitate the research. The operation equipped him with a field of electrodes placed against his spinal cord and an electrical pulse generator under the skin of his abdomen. Although conventional treatments for Parkinson’s disease often target regions of the brain affected by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons, this approach instead focuses on the spinal area associated with activation of leg muscles for walking.
The procedure used a personalized map of Marc’s spinal cord, identifying specific locations signaling leg movements. He wears a motion sensor on each leg that tells the implant that he’s trying to walk; it then turns on and sends electrical impulses to targeted spinal neurons, adapting to its movement in real time.
“In response to precise stimulation of the lumbar spinal cord, I observed for the first time remarkable improvements in gait deficits due to Parkinson’s disease,” said project director Jocelyne Bloch, professor and neurosurgeon at CHUV. Lausanne. online seminar discuss patient success. “I sincerely believe that these results open realistic perspectives for developing a treatment. »
The patient states that he could walk almost normally thanks to the stimulation after several weeks of rehabilitation. He now wears it about eight hours a day, only turning it off when he sleeps or lies down for a while. “I turn the stimulation on in the morning and turn it off at night,” he said. “It allows me to walk better and stabilize myself. Right now, I’m not even afraid of stairs anymore. Every Sunday I go to the lake and walk about 6 kilometers. It’s incredible.”
The researchers caution that there is still a vast chasm between adapting the approach to a single person and optimizing it for large-scale use. Co-leaders Grégoire Courtine and Bloch are working on a commercial version of the neuroprosthesis in collaboration with On medical front. “Our ambition is to provide widespread access to this innovative technology to significantly improve the quality of life of Parkinson’s patients everywhere,” they said.
Meanwhile, research on six new patients will continue in 2024. The team says a “generous donation” of $1 million from the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research finances future work. In 2021, the actor’s organization announced that it had contributed more than $1.5 billion for Parkinson’s research.
This article was originally published on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/spinal-implant-allows-parkinsons-patient-to-walk-for-miles-193637427.html?src=rss