In recent years, low-level electrical stimulation has emerged as an effective rehabilitative tool for people with spinal cord injuries. But not all patients have benefited because researchers often exclude people from studies if they have involuntary muscle spasms, known as spasticity.
In a new study in Science Translational Medicine, researchers in Europe say they have developed a new type of electrical stimulation therapy that addresses spasticity while delivering comparable rehabilitative results. While the pilot study’s sample size is small — only two participants — their quality of life improvements were significant.
“We are just starting to understand how to modulate the activity of the spinal cord. This is not the end of the story. We are showing that you can unlock properties of spinal cord neuromodulation for doing more,” said Silvestro Micera, a neuroengineer at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland. “The technology that we are using right now, we are going to combine with other technology like Lego bricks.”
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