A stroke survivor was able to move her hand and arm for the first time in nine years after spinal stimulation.
Heather Rendulic was paralyzed in her left side after a stroke in 2012 at the age of 22.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University in the US used the new one technology to stimulate your spinal cord in the neck area.
Despite being prodded, it was possible for Ms Rendulic, 33, to move a can of soup and even use a knife and fork to cut steak, having been unable to do so for nearly a decade.
Ms Rendulic, who lives in the US, said: ‘The stimulation is kind of tickling and it’s never painful, but it takes some getting used to, I would say.
“It’s just amazing because I can move my arm and hands in ways I haven’t done in almost a decade.”
Estimates show around 100,000 people in the UK have strokes each year.
About two-thirds of the 1.2 million survivors are unable to return to work, in part due to long-term effects on motor control.
“The Whole Lab Wept”
Marco Capogrosso, assistant professor of neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh and co-senior author of the study, said: “We found that electrical stimulation of specific regions of the spinal cord allows patients to move their arm in ways that are not able to do without stimulation”.
She said Ms Rendulic was “able to move her hand and arm after nine years from day one” after receiving the stimulation.
“The whole lab was crying because…we really didn’t expect it to work that fast.”
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The researchers believe their new technology may offer hope to people living with disabilities that would have been considered permanent.
According to the study, the benefits of spinal stimulation are felt for up to four weeks after the end of the procedure, with no serious side effects.
The procedure involves implanting a pair of thin metal electrodes, which look similar to strings of spaghetti, down the neck to engage intact nerve cells.
More study participants are required to allow researchers to understand which stroke patients may benefit the most.
