Can The Ekso Suit Help Cure Paralysis?

Mark Pollock is paralyzed from the waist down, the tragic result of an accidental fall he suffered four years ago. And yet, for weeks now, Mark Pollock has been taking step after step, the first man to walk despite complete paralysis of his lower body. It’s thanks to the Ekso Suit, an approach to treating, and possibly curing, paralysis.

The Ekso Suit has turned up in some offbeat places, but the science behind it is anything but flashy. The suit is paired with epidural electric stimulation, a non-invasive method of stimulating the spine, and buspirone, a drug that stimulates nerves and leg movement, and it tracks muscle movement. In theory, the more a paralyzed patient learns to walk on their own, the less they’ll need the suit and the less support the suit will offer.

Why does this work? Well, despite the lack of communication, the nerves are still there and still capable of doing work; they’re just not capable of meeting the motor threshold. The drugs and stimulation help them meet that threshold and thus allow the user to walk. The best analogy is like a hearing aid; it doesn’t so much replace the functionality of what’s there as it does augment that part of the body.

It’s not clear if paralyzed patients will ever walk again completely autonomously, and there’s some concern about elevated heart rate. The tests Pollock has participated in will need to be replicated more widely before any sort of therapy can be approved. But it’s already improved his quality of life, and the day may not be so far away that paralysis can, if not be cured, at least alleviated.

(via PopSci)

×