Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Nov. 7 (Xinhua)-- Parkinson's patients managed to walk 6 kilometers normally, thanks to a spinal cord implant.

According to an official press release from Lobsang University Hospital, the 62-year-old man "Marc" from Bordeaux, France, developed a serious mobility disorder due to degenerative disease. "I can hardly walk anymore and fall down several times a day," he said in the article. As the research team focused on comprehensive clinical trials, wearing spinal implants enabled him to walk "almost normally".

Marc underwent "precision neurosurgery" at Lobsang University Hospital two years ago, installing an electrode field on his spinal cord and an electric pulse generator under his abdominal skin, the report said. Although traditional treatments for Parkinson's disease usually target areas of the brain that are affected by dopamine-producing neuronal loss, this approach focuses on activating areas of the spine associated with leg muscle walking.

The program enables the spinal cord of the Marc to identify the exact location where the leg movement signal is sent. He wears a motion sensor on each leg to tell the implant that he is trying to walk, and then it opens and sends electrical impulses to the target spinal cord neurons to adapt his movement in real time.

Marc said that after several weeks of rehabilitation, he was almost able to walk normally under electrical stimulation. He now wears it for about eight hours a day, turning it off only when he sleeps or lies down for a while. "I turn on electrical stimulation in the morning and turn it off at night," he said. "it allows me to walk better and stay stable. Now, I'm not even afraid of stairs anymore. I go to the lake every Sunday and walk about six kilometers. This is incredible."

While the surgery works well, the researchers warn that there is still a huge gap between tailoring methods for individuals and optimizing for widespread use. Co-leaders Gr é goire Courtine and Bloch are working with Onward Medical to develop a commercial version of the nerve implant. "our goal is to make this innovative technology widely available to significantly improve the quality of life of people with Parkinson's disease around the world," they said. "

Meanwhile, studies on six new patients will continue in 2024. The Michael J. Fox Parkinson's Research Foundation "generously donated" $1 million (currently about 7.28 million yuan) to fund upcoming work, the team said. In 2021, the foundation of Michael J. Fox (back to the Future) announced a donation of more than $1.5 billion to Parkinson's disease research (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 10.92 billion yuan).

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