Neuroscientists and neurosurgeons from different university centers in Lausanne (Switzerland), the University of Bordeaux (France) and the National Institute for Health and Medicine Research in France have designed a neuroprosthesis that has enabled Marc, a 62-year-old patient who suffers from Parkinson’s for almost three decades, has walked again.

Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord

“The idea of ​​developing a neuroprosthesis that electrically stimulates the spinal cord to harmonize the procedure and correct locomotor disorders in patients with Parkinson’s is the result of several years of research on the treatment of paralysis due to spinal cord injuries,” he explains. Grégoire Courtine, professor of neuroscience at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne (EPFL), the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV) and the university of this town (UNIL).

Unlike conventional treatments for Parkinson’s, which target brain regions directly affected by the loss of dopamine-producing neurons, this neuroprosthesis targets the area of ​​the spinal cord responsible for activating the leg muscles when walking. , which apparently is not directly affected by Parkinson’s disease.

“It is impressive to see how by electrically stimulating the spinal cord specifically, in the same way we have done with paraplegic patients, we can correct the gait disorders caused by Parkinson’s disease,” says Jocelyne Bloch, neurosurgeon and professor at CHUV, the UNIL and EPFL, and co-director of the NeuroRestore research center with Courtine.

A successful operation

Two years ago, the team of scientists and doctors was ready and the first patient was operated on, at the CHUV. After a precision neurosurgical intervention, Marc, from Bordeaux, was equipped with this new neuroprosthesis composed of an electrode field placed against the spinal cord, which controls walking, and an electrical impulse generator implanted under the skin of his abdomen.

Thanks to a specific programming of spinal cord stimulations that adapts in real time to his movements, Marc has seen his gait disorder quickly subside. After several weeks of rehabilitation with the neuroprosthesis, he can now walk almost normally.

He currently uses his neuroprosthesis for about eight hours a day, and only turns it off when he is sitting for a long time or when he is sleeping. “I turn the stimulation on in the morning and turn it off at night. This allows me to walk better and stabilize myself. Right now, I’m not even afraid of stairs anymore. Every Sunday I go to the lake and walk about 6 kilometers. It’s incredible,” The patient celebrated, detailing that he was diagnosed with the disease when he was 36 years old.

Source: dpa

(Referential image source: Weber Gilles, Europa Press / dpa)

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