Rob Summers is able to stand while his spinal cord is stimulated
A US man named Rob Summers who was a Baseball player and a team winner who was paralyzed from the chest down after being hit by a car was very happy and speechless and was in disbelief after he was able to voluntarily move his toes, hips, knees and ankles and also walk on a treadmill with the help of electrical stimulation of his spinal cord.
After being injured in car accident his spinal cord was damaged, due to which messages from the brain, which used to travel down the spinal cord, were blocked and he was paralysed.
Taken as experiment subject, Doctors surgically implanted 16 electrodes into Rob's spine and trained him daily in to stand, walk and move his legs, while electrical pulses were sent to the spinal cord.
Within days he was able to stand independently and eventually he could control his legs and step, with assistance, for short periods of time.
With those electrical simulations, Rob was able to regain other functions such as bladder, bowel and blood pressure control.
After seeing success in Rob's case, scientist look forward to do the same with other four patients.
But, experts warns that its should be not assumed as cure.
Via: [The Lancet Journal, BBC]
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