In an accident in 2006, Bob Summers was left alone with a terrible diagnosis: paralysis of the lower half of the body.. He felt absolutely nothing below his chest.. The fact that he will ever have a chance to walk in the park, the doctors did not even stutter..

Five years have passed - and now Bob is confidently standing on his feet without anyone's help. How did he do it?

Bob is only 25 years old, and he has plenty of time to learn to walk, contrary to the predictions made by doctors five years ago. He was put on his feet by an experimental technique that combines electrical stimulation of the spinal cord through an implanted device and intensive rehabilitation.. As part of a research project at the University of Louisville, Bob underwent therapy for 26 months - before implanting the implant, doctors helped him learn to move his legs again.

Summers then underwent surgery to install an implant with 16 electrodes going to key areas of the spinal cord.. Due to this neuron of the spinal cord receive and respond to sensory information transmitted by the legs, without the intervention of the brain..

Thanks to electrical stimulation, Bob can get out of bed by himself using a cane and using his leg muscles.. True, he cannot stand for a long time - only four minutes without support, but the young man has mastered the treadmill, and, holding on to the handrail, takes several steps for a " In addition, Bob regained control of his bowels and bladder, and, perhaps most gratifyingly, his sexual function also returned to normal..

" - After I had the implant installed, I got up on the third day. What I felt is indescribable."

The ability to walk has not yet fully recovered, and the experts working with Bob are still cautious with forecasts, since so far this is the only such case in the world.. Nevertheless, experts call the results of the experiment stunning..

It is too early to say that the rehabilitation program developed by doctors will also be effective in the case of other patients.. It is also unknown whether the effect will be noticeable in patients with a completely torn spinal cord, which Summers, fortunately, managed to avoid.. Now there are four more people with a diagnosis of "

Before the results of the experiment became known, the paralyzed could only hope for the acquisition of eLEGS - a robotic exoskeleton. Technology developed by Berkeley Bionics targets six million Americans who cannot walk on their own and are forced to move around in wheelchairs.

For many of those who have become paraplegic, the ability to move again on their own two feet, even these two and prostheses, will mark, without exaggeration, the beginning of a new life.. “What excites me the most is that eLEGS brought me back to the real world,” says Amanda Boxtel, who became paraplegic after a skiing accident in 1993.. "

Amanda adds that eLEGS will be especially useful for those who have lost the ability to move very recently, since the muscles have not yet had time to atrophy, and muscle memory is still preserved.. The sooner a person starts using the exoskeleton, the more noticeably he will make his life easier, because he will be able to avoid a number of troubles - the formation of bedsores, poor blood circulation and digestive problems..

When creating eLEGS, engineers took as a basis another development called HULC (Human Universal Load Carrier) - a system made specifically for the military, helping soldiers carry heavy loads without the risk of damaging their spine. eLEGS consists of a backpack with a battery and a metal leg attached to the " Traveling speed with eLEGS is 2 kilometers per hour, which is not too bad - healthy pedestrians walk about 5 kilometers per hour, walking at their normal pace.

The exoskeleton is powered by batteries, and special sensors read the gestures and movements of a person in order to determine his intentions, adjust to them and help the owner perform the necessary action..

Natalya Sinitsa nedug. en.