New technology that helps people with spinal cord injury to move or increase their function.

“UCLA scientists test electrical stimulation that bypasses injury; technique boosts patient’s finger control, grip strength up to 300 percent,” said Elaine Schmidt. Schmidt the writer of the article is currently studying a man who had previously broke his neck around five years ago. She is helping to do work on the man's recovery, via spinal stimulation. Brian Gomez is one of the first people to undergo this procedure. Gomez ended up with quadriplegia, a disorder that leaves all of his limbs immovable. The scientists at UCLA had inserted thirty-two electrode stimulators below Gomez’s site of injury. Dr. Daniel Lu an associate professor of neurosurgery at UCLA said, “The spinal cord contains alternate pathways that it can use to bypass the injury and get messages from the brain to the limbs.” In Schmidt’s interview with UCLA’s Neuroplasticity and Repair Laboratory specialist, she uncovered the fact that in this spinal nerve training, the spinal cord and train to find these passageways from the brain to the spinal cord to the rest of the body. With many other treatments coming out this seemed to be most natural, due to the fact all other were artificial parts or test on just animals. This study that is being done is currently making moves to soon be able to have mobility of the hands. This will be able to happen because the device instead of being implanted in the brain like the many other attempts, is now placed directly in the spinal cord. Schmidt uncovered the fact that the scientists making these discoveries are using a technique that makes nerve signals take alternative routes to where they need to go. “If there is an accident on the freeway, traffic comes to a standstill, but there are any number of side streets you can use to detour the accident and get where you are going,” Lu said. “It’s the same with the spinal cord,” Dr. Lu then stated. The process requires the doctor to insert a battery pack smaller than the size of the palm into the lower back. The person or doctor will have a remote that stimulates the frequence of the medical equipment. This over time can help someone regain mobility of their hands and maybe even other parts of the body. Gomez the patient of this procedure has been going on an amazing increase in body movement. It takes quite a bit of time to start making functioning happen again. “It takes a lot of time and commitment to do this, but I’m determined,” said Gomez. “Things are about to change for the better, so I’m excited about what’s to come.”

Overall, this technology will make a big impact on those with spinal cord injury. Most spinal cord injuries leave someone with half mobility and even no ability to move at all. This is heartbreaking to see people go through this. This has the ability to bring back some off people's movement and make life easier. Brian Gomez is a great example of what can come out of this experiment and how revolutionary it can be.

Title of article: Experimental implant shows promise for restoring voluntary movement after spinal cord injury Name of publication: UCLA Newsroom Date of publication: December 13, 2016 http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/experimental-implant-shows-promise-for-restoring-voluntary-movement-after-spinal-cord-injury