Mark Pollock and trainer Simon O’Donnell Courtesy of Mark Pollock
Robotic step training, noninvasive spinal stimulation enable patient to take thousands of steps. A 39yo man who had had been completely paralyzed for 4 years was able to voluntarily control his leg muscles and take many steps in a robotic exoskeleton during 5 days of training with the aid of the robotic device combined with a novel noninvasive spinal stimulation pattern that does not require surgery, UCLA scientists report.
This is the first time that a person with chronic, complete paralysis has regained enough voluntary control to actively work with a robotic device designed to enhance mobility. In addition to the robotic device, the man was aided by a novel noninvasive spinal stimulation technique that does not require surgery. His leg movements also resulted in other health benefits, including improved cardiovascular function and muscle tone.
The new approach combines a battery-powered wearable bionic suit that enables people to move their legs in a step-like fashion, with a noninvasive procedure that the same researchers had previously used to enable five men who had been completely paralyzed to move their legs in a rhythmic motion. That earlier achievement is believed to be the first time people who are completely paralyzed have been able to relearn voluntary leg movements without surgery.
In the latest study, the researchers treated Mark Pollock, who lost his sight in 1998 and later became the first blind man to race to the South Pole. In 2010, Pollock fell from a second-story window and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
“In the last few weeks of the trial, my heart rate hit 138 beats per minute,” Pollock said. “This is an aerobic training zone, a rate I haven’t even come close to since being paralyzed while walking in the robot alone, without these interventions. That was a very exciting, emotional moment for me, having spent my whole adult life before breaking my back as an athlete.”
The data showed that Pollock was actively flexing his left knee and raising his left eg and that during and after the electrical stimulation, he was able to voluntarily assist the robot during stepping; it wasn’t just the robotic device doing the work.
Grace Peng, director of NIBIB’s Rehabilitation Engineering Program, said, “This is a great example of a therapeutic approach that combines 2 very different modalities – neuromodulation and robotic assist devices – to achieve a result that could not be realized with either approach alone. This multi-device approach, much like multi-drug therapy, may ultimately benefit patients with impaired mobility in a wide variety of rehabilitation settings. http://emb.citengine.com/event/embc-2015/paper-details?pdID=4403
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