In Mark Pollock fell from a second-story window and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. Now, he is able to control his leg muscles and take thousands of steps in a robotic device. A team of scientists worked with Pollock during five days of training with the aid of the robotic device combined with a novel noninvasive spinal stimulation pattern that does not require surgery. This is the first time that a person with chronic, complete paralysis has regained enough voluntary control to actively work with a robotic device designed to enhance mobility. “For people who are severely injured but not completely paralyzed, there’s every reason to believe that they will have the opportunity to use these types of interventions to further improve their level of function,” said V. Reggie Edgerton, senior author of the research. “We need to expand the clinical toolbox available for people with spinal cord injury and other diseases.”
