Electrode Implants Offers New Hope for Paralysis Patients

Utah Slanted Electrode Array (Credit: Oregon State University)

Patients with spinal cord injuries might one day regain use of paralyzed arms and legs thanks to research that demonstrates how limbs can be controlled via a tiny array of implanted electrodes. The work focused on controlling electrical stimulation pulses delivered to peripheral nerve fibers. When a patient is paralyzed, one of the possible causes is damage to the spinal cord, which along with the brain makes up the central nervous system.

Researchers sent the pulses using an optimized PIV controller — proportional-integral-velocity — and into the nerves activating plantar-flexor muscles in an ankle of an anesthetized cat. The cat’s nerves received them via a 100-electrode array whose base measured just 16 mm2 known as the Utah Slanted Electrode Array.

Thanks to specific electrodes being able to activate the right nerve fibers at the right times, the controller made the cat’s ankle muscles work in a smooth, fatigue-resistant way. The results suggest that someday a paralyzed person might be equipped with a wearable, smartphone-sized control box that would deliver impulses to implanted electrodes in his or her peripheral nervous system, thus enabling at least some level of movement.

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