New Implant Lets Paralyzed Rats Walk Again

An anonymous reader writes A team from EPFL and NCCR Robotics led by Profs Stéphanie Lacour, Grégoire Courtine and Silvestro Micera published an article in Science today describing their e-dura implant that could revolutionize how we think about and treat paralysis. Until now, implants placed beneath the dura mater of the spinal cord have caused significant tissue damage when used over long periods. Research shows that the new e-dura implant is viable for months at a time in animal subjects. The team is now moving on to clinical trials in human subjects and is developing their prototype to take to market.

Comments

Thank god

[NoNonAlphaCharsHere]

I'm really tired of walking past dozens of empty reserved for paralyzed rat parking places to get into the grocery store.

Re:Thank god

[jellomizer]

I have always had one issue with handicap, While I understand that for a lot of people who need it it really improves their quality of life. However there are often more handicap spots then cars. So when the parking lot is full you are probably better off parking in some dangerous way then actually going in a handicap spot as the fines are less.
If the lot is full, you should be allowed to park in the furthest ways handicap spot.

Re:Thank god

[will_die]

They tried that at work and after a few weeks people figured they could just start parking in them no matter what and the parking lot would fill up over time.

Re:Thank god

[DigiShaman]

My favorite is when seeing a (seemingly) healthy person get out of a car from a previous hard athletic workout, with a smoothy in hand, and proceed to walk into the Target store. This car is allowed for handicapped parking.

Either this person is borrowing the car of a person who truly is handicapped, or the entire system of what defines someone as handicapped is more broken then they are.

Re:Thank god

[dpilot]

Right up there with seeing a perfectly healthy person with two free hands hit the handicapped door opener button, rather than open the door by hand.

Re:Thank god

[nospam007]

"I have always had one issue with handicap, While I understand that for a lot of people who need it it really improves their quality of life. "

Only for golfers.

Re:Thank god

[nospam007]

"My favorite is when seeing a (seemingly) healthy person get out of a car from a previous hard athletic workout, with a smoothy in hand, and proceed to walk into the Target store. This car is allowed for handicapped parking.

Either this person is borrowing the car of a person who truly is handicapped, or the entire system of what defines someone as handicapped is more broken then they are."

Or they come and get a person in wheelchair in that persons' car whom they brought earlier.
That's how I do it.
I'm aware of the looks that people throw at me.:-)

Re:Thank god

[morgauxo]

No, those two things are nothing the same. Hitting the door button does not make the door button unavailable to the next person who actually needs it. Filling up a parking space does.

I hit those buttons (with my knee or elbow) all the time. I especially like to do that when entering/exiting a public restroom. Do you have any idea how many people use the toilet and don't wash their hands? The first thing they touch after wiping their ass is that door handle!

Re:Thank god

[The Grim Reefer]

My favorite is when seeing a (seemingly) healthy person get out of a car from a previous hard athletic workout, with a smoothy in hand, and proceed to walk into the Target store. This car is allowed for handicapped parking.

Either this person is borrowing the car of a person who truly is handicapped, or the entire system of what defines someone as handicapped is more broken then they are.

I don't have a smoothie in hand, but I often times drop off my wife at the front door and then park the car. Usually my daughter gets her a wheelchair while I'm parking. Or I get it for her after parking. I usually park somewhere else if there is a close spot. But I don't worry about it in bad weather, or on the off chance she may want to try to get to the car when we leave the store.

But, yeah I know what you're talking about. I see people park there all the time for no good reason. Hell, most of the people that have handicapped tags or placards don't have any reason to get them. I think some doctors just give them out to people if they live to a certain age. Back when my wife was still able to walk from the parking lot to the front door, most people that parked in those spaces looked like they were sprinting compared to her. Because my wife has MS, I never park in the handicapped spots when she's not with me. I know how miserable it is for her to get around, so I'd hate to cause any additional problems for anyone else who may need to park there.

Re:Thank god

[neoritter]

I do it all the time, if someone is coming that is too far for me to wait and old, but close enough that hitting the Handicap button would keep the door open for them.

Re:Thank god

[neoritter]

So on that note, screw you. I was probably trying to a marginally nice thing for you.

Re:Thank god

[DigiShaman]

Which is why "sanitary alignment" is necessary. For example, the paper towel waste bin should be right next to the door handle in that it's in close proximity and doesn't obstruct opening the door. The whole idea being that if you must touch the door knob/handle, you do so with the paper towel before you reach other and toss it into the bin. Of course, if the bathroom was designed properly, either a door isn't required (like in an a large airport), or it doesn't require anyone to touch it.

Re:Thank god

[morgauxo]

Ok, that's better than just touching the door but why the hell would you bother if you can just knee the handicap button?

Again... using it is not like a parking space. It does not make it unavailable for the next person. Nobody is going to wet their wheelchair because you pushed the button.

Paralyzed rats

[rossdee]

Never mind them walking, how about getting them to pass some legislation, approve some nominees, and attend to the country'e debts.

Oh wait, you don't mean the ones in Washington

Re:Why put 'e' in front of it

[The Real Dr John]

if you read the abstract, you would have seen that the e stands for electronic, as in electronic dura.

needs more work

[SemperUbi]

These newer implants could still cause tissue damage over time at a slower rate, but rats don't live more than 2-3 years. Sounds like they need to test this in a species with a longer lifespan before using human subjects.

Re:needs more work

[Translation Error]

Absolutely, but before starting a long-term test, expensive in time, manpower, and resources, it's important to do one that's less ambitious to make sure the concept/execution doesn't have any serious flaws.

Finally!

[Marginal Coward]

There's hope for Dr. Strangelove.

Only months?

[morgauxo]

Ok, I get it that this is an improvement over what they could do before but it doesn't sound ready for human use to me. What happens after "months" are up? Does it then cause the tissue damage that the old implants caused sooner? Does this mean the spinal cord is even further damaged, preventing the surgery being repeated? Or can they then just go in and replace it with a new implant and everything is like it was the first time?

Since human trials were mentioned I would expect the article to answer these kinds of questions!

Motorcycles!

[Scottingham]

Yet more encouraging news for those of use who ride the donor cycles!

I also do full gear all the time though...so I'm not exactly dumb (relatively) about it.

In a slightly morbid way I kinda look forward to becoming eligible for the front lines of this cyborg future.