New York Man With Paralysis Stands 39 Years After Injury Thanks To UofL’s Spinal Cord Research
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Hoping to change the trajectory of spinal cord injury research, dubbed the “graveyard of neuroscience,” Henry Stifel and his father started a foundation to raise money and fund research that would give hope for recovery to people with spinal cord injuries. That foundation eventually merged with the American Paralysis Association and later with what now is known as the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, supporting research and advocacy for individuals with spinal cord injury.
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Published in American Spinal Injury Association
Ashley Williams isRegaining Movement as a Participant in Our Epidural Stimulation Trials.
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Ashley Williams moved to Louisville more than a year ago to participate in spinal cord injury research with the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center. She now has hope for more independence. Ashley is a participant in our first randomized trial with epidural stimulation. The primary goal of that project is to look at the efficacy of epidural stimulation in regulation of blood pressure in individuals. Williams is already seeing some improvement. She is still in the very early stages post-surgery and is currently working on tasks like trying to bring her knees up to her chest. “I want people to know that just because I’m not walking doesn’t mean I haven’t made recovery,” Ashley said. “When I first came home from the hospital, I couldn’t move my right arm at all. I could barely twitch my left arm. Now, I can move both my arms. I can do all kinds of things.”
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University of Louisville’s Kosair for Kids Center for Pediatric Neurorecovery
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| In 2014, Kosair for Kids invested in a vision to provide the best care for spinal cord injuries, conduct cutting-edge research to guide our therapies, and to train the next generation of therapists, physicians, and researchers in a recovery-based program. With a $7.3 million investment, the University of Louisville’s Kosair for Kids Center for Pediatric Neurorecovery was established for children with spinal cord injuries like Luke.
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Pediatric NeuroRecovery PowerStep
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Researchers at the University of Louisville’s Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center and clinicians at Frazier Rehab Institute use ‘locomotor training’, a therapy designed to access the ‘smart’ spinal cord, even below the injury in paralyzed children to help them recover the ability to sit, stand, and in some instances, even walk again.
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UofL and Medtronic to Collaborate on Custom Epidural Stimulation Algorithms to Restore Function in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury.
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$7.8 million from NIH will fund development of a closed-loop system to monitor and adjust for multiple function use, wireless monitoring.
Researchers at the University of Louisville made news worldwide in 2018 when two people diagnosed with complete spinal cord injuries recovered the ability to walk thanks to experimental use of a therapy known as epidural stimulation. The news gave hope to people living with complete spinal cord injuries, a diagnosis that historically meant they were unlikely to regain function below their level of injury.Despite these significant results, use of epidural stimulation outside a research lab setting to restore function for people with spinal cord injury thus far has been hampered by several limitations, including the use of a technology that was designed for patients with chronic, intractable pain – not those with spinal cord injury.
Read the Entire Story in UofL News
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WHAS 11 Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center Story
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WHAS 11 news story about one of the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Rehab Center participants.
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UofL Magazine
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Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center participants were featured on the cover of the Spring 2019 edition of The University of Louisville magazine.
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Individuals With Chronic Spinal Cord Injuries Voluntarily Take Steps
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Amazing’ treatment helps paralyzed people walk again.
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Recovery of Cardiovascular Function in Spinal Cord Injured People Sustained Following Epidural Stimulation Training
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For this study, research participants received stimulation using specific configurations selected to target cardiovascular function, monitoring blood pressure and cardiovascular function throughout, for an average of 89 daily, two-hour sessions. Earlier research showed the benefits of scES in controlling cardiovascular function during stimulation, but this data reveals participants’ blood pressure and heart rate remained stabilized between sessions, showing an enduring effect.
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Epidural Stimulation Program
Epidural Stimulation Timeline
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Cardiovascular and Respiratory
Bladder, Bowel and Sexual Function
Publications – Epidural Stimulation |
