2023-11-07 16:32:43
07 November 2023
A patient with advanced Parkinson’s disease was able to walk once more thanks to a neuroprosthesis implanted in the area of the spinal cord that controls leg muscles. Explanations.
Marc, who has suffered from Parkinson’s disease for almost 30 years, was fitted two years ago with a neuroprosthesis developed by a Franco-Swiss team. At 62 years old, this Bordeaux resident now walks almost normally. However, he suffered from severe walking problems and frequent falls, as is the case for 90% of advanced Alzheimer’s patients. The phenomenon of freezing can also be associated with pathology, “when the feet remain glued to the ground while walking”, explains Inserm, which contributed to the innovation.
Currently available treatments cannot eliminate these disorders. “I might hardly walk without frequent falls, several times a day. In certain situations, like entering an elevator, I was stomping on the spot, I was freezing, as they say,” explains Marc, quoted in a press release from Inserm, CHUV and NeuroRestore, a Swiss center specializing in neurosurgery for the restoration of neurological functions.
Electrodes to replace the brain
Jocelyne Bloch, professor at CHUV and co-director of the NeuroRestore center with Grégoire Courtine worked with Dr Erwan Bézard, neuroscientist at Inserm, specialist in neurodegenerative diseases, to develop this implant. “ The idea of developing a neuroprosthesis electrically stimulating the spinal cord to harmonize the gait and correct the locomotor disorders of Parkinson’s patients is the result of several years of research on the treatment of paralysis due to spinal cord injuries. », explains Erwan Bézard, Inserm research director at the Institute of Neurodegenerative Diseases.
This neuroprosthesis includes electrodes, aimed at replacing brain commands, implanted in the region of the spinal cord which controls the leg muscles; an electrical pulse generator was placed under the skin of the patient’s abdomen. “In the present case, it is a stimulation which superimposes on the natural functioning of the neurons of the spinal cord by stimulating, with spatiotemporal coordination, the different muscle groups responsible for walking”, explain Grégoire Courtine, neuroscientist, and Jocelyne Bloch, neurosurgeon. “Thanks to the targeted programming of spinal cord stimulations which adapt in real time to his movements, Marc quickly saw his walking problems disappear,” further specifies the press release.
“Stairs no longer scare me”
Equipped with the neuroprosthesis, and with a few weeks of rehabilitation, Marc found an almost normal gait once more. He uses his implant regarding 8 hours a day, turning it off at night or when it remains inactive for a long period of time. “I turn the stimulation on in the morning and turn it off in the evening. It allows me to walk better, to stabilize myself. Even stairs don’t scare me anymore. Every Sunday I go to the lake, and I walk regarding 6 kilometers. It’s awesome “he enthuses.
The sixty-year-old is the only patient to have been treated with this neuroprosthesis. Clinical trials will be carried out by the NeuroRestore center on six new patients starting next year. Objective: optimize the implant in order to deploy it on a large scale and to be able to develop a commercial version of the device. “Our ambition is to generalize access to this innovative technology in order to significantly improve the quality of life of patients with Parkinson’s disease, everywhere in the world.”
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Source : Major breakthrough in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease: a neuroprosthesis restores walking, chuv, epfl; inserm, November 6, 2023
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Written by : Dorothée Duchemin – Edited by Emmanuel Ducreuzet
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