Home Reports Medical Engineering Content

Walking again after spinal injury

next article

18.02.2013

In the lab, rats with severe spinal cord injury are learning to walk—and run—again.

Last June in the journal Science, Grégoire Courtine, of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), reported that rats in his lab are not only voluntarily initiating a walking gait, but they were sprinting, climbing up stairs, and avoiding obstacles after a couple of weeks of neurorehabilitation with a combination of a robotic harness and electricalchemical stimulation.

Now, at the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Boston, Courtine describes this research in detail and the next steps towards clinical trials to be done in Switzerland. Courtine holds the International Paraplegic Foundation (IRP) Chair in Spinal Cord Repair at EPFL. At AAAS, in a symposium titled, “Engineering the Nervous System: Solutions to Restore Sight, Hearing, and Mobility,” he outlines the range of neuroprosthetic technologies developed in his lab, which aim to restore voluntary control of locomotion after severe spinal cord injury.

He explains how he and his colleagues are interfacing the central nervous system with stretchable spinal electrode arrays controlled with smart stimulation algorithms – combined with novel robotic rehabilitation – and shows videos of completely paralyzed rats voluntarily moving after only weeks of treatment.

Courtine expects to begin clinical trials in human patients within the next two years. At AAAS, he presents the 9 million euro European project NeuWalk (www.neuwalk.com), an effort dedicated to the transfer of technology from rats over to humans with spinal cord damage through development of effective neuroprosthetic systems for rehabilitation. The first phase of clinical studies will be conducted at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), which has developed extensive expertise in the electrical-chemical stimulation of the human spinal cord.

The second phase will take place at the newly planned EPFL Valais Wallis academic cluster in Valais, Switzerland, to be inaugurated in 2015. This health and biotechnology center in Valais will focus on new treatments and rehabilitation for people with physical disabilities.

This research program has the potential to develop effective treatment paradigms for rehabilitating individuals with severe spinal cord injury, for whom current rehabilitative treatments do not restore the ability to stand or walk.

Researcher Contact: Professor Grégoire Courtine
International Paraplegic Foundation (IRP) Chair in Spinal Cord Repair
gregoire.courtine@epfl.ch
http://courtine-lab.epfl.ch

Press Kit:
http://bit.ly/VJqhhG

Links:
http://AAAS.epfl.ch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ejwEqpV8ak4
http://actu.epfl.ch/news/walking-again-after-spinal-cord-injury/
http://actu.epfl.ch/news/valais-a-health-valley-and-the-driving-force-of-to/
http://www.project-rewalk.com


About EPFL:

With over 350 laboratories and research groups on campus, EPFL is one of Europe’s most innovative and productive scientific institutions. Ranked top 3 in Europe and top 20 worldwide in many scientific rankings, EPFL has attracted the best researchers in their fields. The institute’s unique structure fosters trans-disciplinary research and promotes partnerships with other institutions. It continuously combines fundamental research and engineering.

http://information.epfl.ch/glance

Médiacom - Hillary Sanctuary
EPFL / P / P-SG / SMC
CM 1 364 (Bâtiment CM)
Station 10
CH - 1015 Lausanne
Téléphone : +4121 693 70 22
Mobile : +4179 703 48 09
Fax: +4121 693 30 91
Email: hillary.sanctuary@epfl.ch

Hillary Sanctuary | Source: EurekAlert!
Further information: www.epfl.ch

next article