Wicked cool! Check this! spike
o Overcoming Paralysis: A computerized implant helps move a paralyzed arm...
http://www.ivanhoe.com/stream/overcomingparalysis.html
Spinal cord injuries are often caused by car
accidents or bad falls.
They can happen in a split second, yet the
paralysis these injuries
cause can last a lifetime. At least, that's
the way it used to be.
Eating out is much more than a treat for
22-year-old Shawn Reed
and his fiancée, Kim Faust. It's a triumph.
Shawn says, "We get
along good. I think we're gonna have a good
life together."
Two years ago, Shawn was left paralyzed from
the chest down
after a car accident. Most people thought he'd never use his hands again. They were wrong. He
can use his right hand today with the help of a computerized device inside his arm. It's called the
"NeuroControl Freehand System."
David Ruch, M.D., a hand surgeon at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in
Winston-Salem, N.C., says, "It takes someone who has no use in their upper extremities -- they
can't care for themselves, they can't comb their hair, they can't feed themselves -- and gives them
independence."
Surgeons at Wake Forest attached computer-controlled electrodes to eight of Shawn's arm muscles. The electrodes make the muscles contract so his hand can open and close. Shawn activates the electrodes by moving his left shoulder. Weekly visits to a hospital therapist help fine tune his movements.
"I'm just gonna see if I'm gonna let it
beat me or I'm gonna beat it, and I
feel like I'm beating it," says Shawn.
Mastering the Freehand does
take patience and determination. Shawn has
both.
The Freehand is used by about 150 people
worldwide. Right now,
it's FDA-approved for paralyzed people who can
still move their
shoulders. Dr. Ruch predicts it will
eventually be approved for use
in people who can only move their necks or mouths, like Christopher Reeve, and that one day it
will be used in the legs.
If you would like more information, please contact:
NeuroControl Corporation
(888) 333-4918