Spine Injury Breakthrough: Paralyzed Man Stands, Moves
May-22-2011

Rob Summers can't walk -- yet. But he can do something no other person paralyzed with a devastating spinal cord injury ever has done: He can stand up from his wheelchair when he wants to.
"Being able to stand for first time was both emotional and exciting. After years of seeing no gains or recovered function, I was able to see my hard work pay off. It was as rewarding as anything I have ever done in my life," Summers said at a news teleconference.
He does it with the help of a pacemaker-like device that sends a gentle electric current through 16 electrodes implanted in his spine. The device doesn't make his muscles move -- he does. This "epidural stimulation" excites the neurons in his spine, allowing them to receive and react to sensory information from his legs.
These results are being hailed as "unprecedented in spinal cord injury medicine," a "breakthrough," and as "going to make a major impact" by spine-injury experts not directly linked to the study by Susan Harkema, PhD, of the University of Louisville, Ky., and colleagues.
"What we have found here is a new set of mechanisms that have never been taken advantage of in a therapeutic way," Harkema said at a news conference held to announce the findings. "It opens a whole new set of possibilities for patients, not just those recently injured but those who have been injured for months and years."

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