Just saw another amazing thing....

[StoopTroup]

...it was on Fox. They have another Technological Breakthrough to help Paralyzed Folks back to some sort of normal function.

This isn't it but it's another cool story...

I'll look for the Fox link...

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[2121Sooner]

Nfm

[StoopTroup]

Here's the Fox Story...

Paralyzed Man Freely Moves After Getting Implant

LONDON – After Rob Summers was paralyzed below the chest in a car accident in 2006, his doctors told him he would never stand again. They were wrong.

Despite intensive physical therapy for three years, Summers' condition hadn't improved. So in 2009, doctors implanted an electrical stimulator onto the lining of his spinal cord to try waking up his damaged nervous system. Within days, Summers, 25, stood without help. Months later, he wiggled his toes, moved his knees, ankles and hips, and was able to take a few steps on a treadmill.

"It was the most incredible feeling," said Summers, of Portland, Oregon. "After not being able to move for four years, I thought things could finally change."

Still, despite his renewed optimism, Summers can't stand when he's not in a therapy session with the stimulator turned on, and he normally gets around in a wheelchair. Doctors are currently limiting his use of the device to several hours at a time.

His case is described in a paper published Friday in the journal, Lancet. The research was paid for by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/19/paralyzed-man-freely-moves-getting-implant/#ixzz1Mv95ZOd4

[soonercruiser]

Sure the story isn't slanted?

[StoopTroup]

Could be. Fox might be trying to get rich old people to help so they can prove that the private sector has the ability to help the semi-rich who paralyze themselves on skate boards and dirt bikes?

[stoopified]

WOW

[pphilfran]

ST...was it the kid that walked to get his diploma?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110517/us_yblog_thelookout/college-graduates-cheer-as-paralyzed-student-walks-to-get-degree-with-robotic-exoskeleton

A crowd of 15,000 cheered as UC Berkeley graduating senior Austin Whitney took seven steps with the help of a remarkable robotic exoskeleton to get his degree last week.

Whitney was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident in 2007, and has been a paraplegic ever since. Berkeley Professor Homayoon Kazerooni and a team of graduate students worked to design the robotic device Whitney operated via a switch on his walker to move toward Chancellor Robert Birgeneau to shake his hand.

"'If somebody told me four years ago that I'd be walking at this graduation, I would have never believed them in a million years," Whitney told ABC News. You can watch the video after the jump:

Whitney, who majored in history and political science, was the exoskeleton's first human test pilot, and the team named the device after him. "This team is so much more than just a group of researchers. They are my best friends at the university," he told Berkeley's news center. Most exoskeletons on the market cost about $100,000--the researchers are trying to make their model more affordable.

Whitney had been drinking when he crashed his car into a tree and severed his spinal cord four years ago; he now gives motivational talks about the dangers of drinking and driving.

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[StoopTroup]

No. It was Rob Summers. He was hit by a hit n run Driver

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/19/paralyzed-man-freely-moves-getting-implant/#ixzz1Mv95ZOd4


For years, certain people with incomplete spinal cord injuries, who have some control of their limbs, have experienced some improvement after experiments to electrically stimulate their muscles. But such progress had not been seen before in someone with a complete spinal cord injury.

"This is not a cure, but it could lead to improved functionality in some patients," said Gregoire Courtine, head of experimental neurorehabilitation at the University of Zurich. He was not connected to Summers' case. Courtine cautioned Summers' recovery didn't make any difference to the patient's daily life and that more research was needed to help paralyzed people regain enough mobility to make a difference in their normal routines.



He is doing 6 hours a day with 8 trainers though....:eek:

I'm guessing he's either got some incredible health insurance or some really nice folks are helping him try and show people they should never give up. Incredible Story....