New spinal implant 'to help muscle rehabilitation'RSS Feed

A new implant has been unveiled which could seriously improve the lives of those with traumatic spinal injury.

Active Book, which is placed around spinal nerves of paralysed patients, has a number of possible uses for those with spinal injury and other paralysing conditions.

The implant transfers electrical impulses to the spine directly, which should be more effective than using external systems.

Professor Andreas Demosthenous, who led the study, explained that the fact that this device is internal means it has the ability to stimulate more muscle groups than is possible with existing devices.

"Stimulation of more muscle groups means users can perform enough movement to carry out controlled exercise such as cycling or rowing," he said.

The device has been named Active Book as the chip is connected to the nerve roots by wrapping around them - like the pages of a book.

Meanwhile, researchers from Ohio State University have found that the cells produced by the spleen can exacerbate the damage of a spinal cord injury.

News brought to you by Serious Law specialists in spinal injury

Posted by Matthew Dixon
 

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