Precise electrical stimulation helps to treat paralysis in three patients

The treatment works by implanting an array of electrodes over the spinal cord, allowing the surgical team to target individual muscle groups in the legs. After a few months of training, the patients could control previously paralysed leg muscles, even in the absence of electrical stimulation.

“Selected configurations of electrodes are activating specific regions of the spinal cord, mimicking the signals that the brain would deliver to produce walking,” said Prof Jocelyne Bloch, a neuroscientist at Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV/Unil).

The breakthrough, led by Prof Grégoire Courtine (EPFL/ CHUV/Unil) and Prof Bloch, is published in Nature and Nature Neuroscience.

All patients involved in the STIMO (STImulation Movement Overground) study recovered voluntary control of leg muscles that had been paralysed for many years.

“Our findings are based on a deep understanding of the underlying mechanisms which we gained through years of research on animal models. We were thus able to mimic in real time how the brain naturally activates the spinal cord,” said Courtine. “The exact timing and location of the electrical stimulation are crucial to a patient’s ability to produce an intended movement. It is also this spatiotemporal coincidence that triggers the growth of new nerve connections.”