Non-Surgical Procedure Returns Hand Function To Paralyzed People

[Judi Lynn]

By Aliyah Kovner
27 APR 2018, 23:55

In a world first, a team of researchers at the University of California Los Angeles have restored movement and control to the hands and fingers of six people with severe spinal cord injuries after only four weeks of training with the group’s non-invasive spinal stimulation system.

Prior to their inclusion in the study, published in the Journal of Neurotrauma, three participants had suffered from partial paralysis that significantly affected their hand movement and three had been completely paralyzed for at least one year and up to 21 years following an injury to the cervical spinal cord.

Then, the six lucked into a spot as testers for senior author and laboratory leader V. Reggie Edgerton’s experimental nerve retraining procedure called transcutaneous enabling motor control, or tEmc.

During each session, participants attempted to squeeze a spring-loaded device and hold their grip for several seconds while electrodes placed at strategic points on the skin of the neck delivered an electrical current of varying intensity and frequency to clusters of neurons below.

More:
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/nonsurgical-procedure-returns-hand-function-to-paralyzed-people/all/

[dawg day]

1. Parag Gad, researcher, Mumbai native, was a major researcher in this project

i know this isn't supposed to be political. But anyone who has participated in medical research is very aware of the major contributions made by.... immigrants. Our country, our universities, our workplaces benefit from the productivity and creativity of immigrants.

We are fortunate to be a country where immigrants want to go, and we better be careful not to ruin our appeal with Trumpian hatred and resentment.

[Control-Z]

2. Wow! Really wow!!

Human kind has so much potential, so much to offer.