Epidural Stimulation

Complete paralysis condition from Spinal cord injury was long been admitted that there was no current treatment option available to regain the voluntary motor control. The suffering patients were mostly admitted with the lifelong wheelchair fate. Repeated training sessions, no matter how many and how long, in paralyzed limbs were proved to show no gain by electrophysiology assessment and mostly be eventually given up by despairing patients and practitioners. The recent breakthrough of neuromodulation technique, by epidural electrical stimulation, were shown to be a new hope for all spinal cord injury individuals.

Who will be benefit from this procedure?

The most beneficial patient is the one who is paralyzed from spinal cord injury at lower Cervicle spine until T11.

What is Epidural stimulation

Epidural stimulation is the application of a continuous electrical current to the lower part of the spinal cord via a little chip which is implanted over the dura of the spinal cord. A small size of a remote controls the frequency and intensity of the electrical current. Specific sensory stimulations, when the stimulator is on, combined with intensive training, allows paralyzed people to voluntarily move their legs.

What is the benefit?

Epidural Stimulation can improve not only motor system but also autonomic nervous system

Sense of quality of life improvement

Temperature regulation

improvement

Enhancement in sexual function

Increase in bladder control

Improvement in certain leg movements

What are the mechanisms?

The mechanism of Epidural Stimulation is base on the spontaneous response of the spinal cord. The spinal cord contains complicated circuits that are capable of processing information on their own without any control from the brain. The most obvious example is reflexes, which are, by definition, involuntary and promote nearly immediate movement in response to a particular stimulus. The epidural stimulation effect comes from this particular capability. The electrical current is supposed to be able to ‘re-activate the spinal circuits’, allowing the residual connection between the brain and the spinal cord to voluntarily control certain leg movements.