Effect of epidural stimulation of the lumbosacral spinal cord on voluntary movement, standing, and assisted stepping after motor complete paraplegia: a case study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Repeated periods of stimulation of the spinal cord and training increased the ability to control movement in animal models of spinal cord injury. We hypothesised that tonic epidural spinal cord stimulation can modulate spinal circuitry in human beings into a physiological state that enables sensory input from standing and stepping movements to serve as a source of neural control to undertake these tasks.

Methods

A 23-year-old man who had paraplegia from a C7-T1 subluxation as a result of a motor vehicle accident in July 2006, presented with complete loss of clinically detectable voluntary motor function and partial preservation of sensation below the T1 cord segment. After 170 locomotor training sessions over 26 months, a 16-electrode array was surgically placed o

SUBMITTER: Harkema S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3154251 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature