After a stroketwo women aged 31 and 47 have recovered the use of the arm and partially also of the hand, remained paralysed. Merit of electrical stimulation of the spinal cord: these are the first two patients to experiment with this new therapeutic possibility, after years of studies carried out on computer models and monkeys, developed by a group of researchers led by the American Universities of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon. Among the coordinators of the study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, even two Italians working at the University of Pittsburgh: Marco Capogrosso and Elvira Pirondini.
How the test was done – “This was a first pilot study that we had to interrupt after 4 weeks – the two researchers told ANSA – but we hope to reach clinical use of this technology in 5-10 years”. The researchers, also coordinated by Douglas Weber of Carnegie Mellon, have implanted a pair of electrodes at the level of the neck, which deliver impulses to activate nerve cells within the spinal cord. In this way, the activity of the muscles weakened by the stroke can be amplified and strengthened, while still leaving the patient with full control of the movement, which occurs only when he decides it. Tests showed immediate improvement: the two women were able to grab objects and open a lock, previously impossible tasks.
High hopes for the future – “It is a very interesting experiment from the point of view of clinical potential and which sees very refined bio-engineering solutions”, says Silvestro Micera, professor at the Biorobotics Institute of the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna in Pisa, who was mentor of the two researchers and who worked with them on studies that allowed first monkeys and then humans to walk again. “With this study they passed from spinal cord injuries to damage to the central nervous system caused by a stroke – explains Micera – then from the lower to the upper limbs”.