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Parkinson’s disease: a French patient walks again thanks to electrodes implanted on the spinal cord
This is a great hope for patients who have lost their mobility, their ability to walk due to a neurological disease. Thanks to electrodes implanted on the spinal cord by French-Swiss researchers, a patient disabled by Parkinson’s disease was able to regain the use of his legs. – (France 2)
This is a great hope for patients who have lost their mobility, their ability to walk due to a neurological disease. Thanks to electrodes implanted on the spinal cord by French-Swiss researchers, a patient disabled by Parkinson’s disease was able to regain the use of his legs.
It’s hard to imagine that just two years ago, the simple act of walking, walking lightly, was a challenge for Marc Gauthier. To rediscover the pleasure of walking, to find his legs again, a freedom that Parkinson’s disease had taken away from this 63-year-old Frenchman, and which he has just regained thanks to a medical feat. “It makes me independent, it allows me to go shopping, it allows me to go to stores, rather than staying at home.” he testifies.
6 new patients will be implanted
He can walk fluidly, without jerks, without falls, thanks to a neuroprosthesis, electrodes implanted on the spinal cord. And the simple act of walking becomes complicated again as soon as a small box disconnects the electrodes. Marc Gauthier, who has been living with Parkinson’s disease for 28 years, had surgery two years ago and now uses his device from morning until evening. This technique should be tested soon on 6 new patients.