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For 44 months, Meas trained in the lab and at home, doing stepping and standing activities. The device was activated while Meas was doing physical therapy training.

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Once the device – a modified version of a Medtronic one used for pain treatment – was placed, she and her team, with Meas, had to do long series of experiments to ‘figure out what kinds of stimulations are needed for what movements,’ Dr Harkema says.

‘The stimulator in the lower spinal cord (not at the site of the injury) provides a level of excitability of the spinal cord to help it function,’ says Dr Harkema. The electrical pulse stimulates the area of the spinal cord attached to the nerves that communicate with the legs. The one in his abdomen generates an electrical pulse, which travels to the device over his spine. The new device involved connected implants surgically placed in his abdomen and on his spinal column. He, along with three other wheelchair-bound men, were fitted with a new device to give him spinal cord epidural stimulation (scES), as part of a study funded in part by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. When Meas entered the Louisville research program, Dr Harkema says that her team ‘weren’t able to detect any functional fibers.’

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The damage causes the cord to ‘lose input from the brain, the spinal cord can relearn’ how to tell the rest of the body to move, says Dr Harkema.

Meas’s accident resulted in what’s called a ‘total spinal cord injury,’ meaning he had lost all movement below his waist and was a paraplegic, ostensibly for the rest of his life.īut, it’s important to remember that ‘the cord circuitry hasn’t been injured except for where the injury occurred,’ says Dr Susan Harkema, the study’s lead author. The spinal cord functions as an interpreter of signals from the brain, and sends them to parts of the body, telling them when and how to move.Īfter a spinal cord injury, the damage to the cord can lead to total or partial paralysis of some or all limbs, depending on where the injury occurs. Many doctors believe that a patient has reached their maximum recovery potential within the first year after their injury. He spent four years in physical therapy, trying to regain motor function. Since the accident, he has been unable to walk or even stand. Meas, now 32, crashed his motorcycle as he was leaving the gym four years ago. What a difference six months can make!! Congrats Tara on all of your healthy, hard work.A clinical video documented the first time Andrew Meas (center) stood on his own after a motorcycle accident left him paraplegic six years before I'm proud of myself for making it this far.' Six months ago, back in January I was probably a little skeptic about losing the weight or being where I am now. That's another challenge for me.and the holidays and vacation. Tara has faced her shared of obstacles-especially in the last couple of months, 'The kids being out of school right now for the summer-I'm at a plateau. The makeover is just the top of the cake-I feel like I've been a cocoon and this helped me get all the way out.' The finished product, unveiled on 7-News at Noon, is nothing short of fabulous. I'm going to trim up the layers a little bit-redo the laying because it has some layers in it. Blaine Bourgeois says he had some limitations because Tara didn't want to go to short, 'We are going to try and keep it as long as possible.