Spinal injury patient test drives new technologyRSS Feed

A man who sustained a spinal injury in a beach accident has been test driving a new piece of technology that could improve the quality of life of those with paralysis.

Cruise Bogle, 20, is now a quadriplegic as he broke his C4 vertebrae in the accident and was paralysed from the neck down, CNN reports.

Mr Bogle was at a large rehabilitation centre, called Shepherd Center, in Atlanta, Georgia when scientists from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology approached him to try a new wheelchair.

The wheelchair is powered by the patient's tongue, as this is still functional even in patients with the highest level of spinal cord injury, Maysam Ghovanloo, head of the project, told the news provider.

"It is amazing technology and I can't imagine what else Georgia Tech will turn out in the coming years," said Mr Bogle.

Last month a study, published in the journal Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, found that almost half of spinal cord injury patients have had to have their wheelchairs repaired.

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