A “robotic exoskeleton” device developed by UCLA scientists allowed a paralyzed man to voluntarily control his leg muscles and take thousands of steps. In addition to the robotic device, the man was aided by a novel noninvasive spinal stimulation technique that does not require surgery.
In the latest study, the researchers treated Mark Pollock, who lost his sight in 1998 and later became the first blind man to race to the South Pole. In 2010, Pollock fell from a second-story window and suffered a spinal cord injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down.
At UCLA, Pollock made substantial progress after receiving a few weeks of physical training without spinal stimulation and then just five days of spinal stimulation training in a one-week span, for about an hour a day.
The new exoskeleton approach combines a battery-powered wearable bionic suit that enables patients to move their legs in a step-like fashion.
The robotic device, manufactured by Richmond, California-based Ekso Bionics, captures data that enables the research team to determine how much the subject is moving his own limbs, as opposed to being aided by the device.
The data showed that Pollock was actively flexing his left knee and raising his left leg, and that during and after the electrical stimulation, he was able to voluntarily assist the robot during stepping; it was not just the robotic device doing the work.
