New device helps paraplegics regain partial use of hands

PARIS: Around 40 individuals who were ‘paralysed’ from the neck down, have regained ‘partial control’ of their arms and hands, thanks to a relatively ‘simple to use device’, a large study said on Monday.

The trial has raised hopes that the ‘non-invasive’ device may help people with spinal injuries, ‘get back’ the use of their hands.

The device which was developed by Swiss medical technology firm ‘Onward’, delivers an electrical current through electrodes placed on the skin of paralysed patients, near where their spinal cord was damaged.

After two months of therapy, 43 of the 60 people participating in the trial ‘regained strength’ and the ‘ability to use their arms and hands’, according to the study which was published in the journal, Nature Medi­cine.

“I think it could be life-changing for the majority of people with spinal cord injury” the lead author of the study, US neuroscientist Chet Moritz, told a press conference. The field has witnessed a number of ‘leaps forward’ in recent years, with electrical stimulation of the spinal cord ‘enabling’ several patients to regain the ability to walk.

However, these devices do require invasive surgery, to implant devices near the spinal cord.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2024