AUTHOR=Shah Jawad , Smith Richard H. , Al-Gharaibeh Abeer 

TITLE=A Novel Electromagnetic-Neurobiologic Interface for Functional Animation of Dormant Motor Nerve Roots in Spinal Cord Injury via Neuromodulation

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Surgery

VOLUME=6

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/surgery/articles/10.3389/fsurg.2019.00073

DOI=10.3389/fsurg.2019.00073

ISSN=2296-875X

ABSTRACT=<p>Complete spinal cord injury is a devastating occurrence afflicting millions of people worldwide with no available treatment for functional motor recovery. In this report, we describe a procedure in which we used parts of a device available for chronic pain treatment to provide a neuromodulation of motor nerve roots in a case with complete motor and sensory paraplegia. By using a retrograde trans-foraminal approach to implant electrodes close to L2-S1 motor nerve roots bilaterally, we were able to stimulate those nerves and induce precise movements at the joints of lower extremity in a T5 complete spinal cord injury case. We believe that our approach shows potential of the device as a rehabilitation system with the possibility of a parallel electric circuitry that can bridge a damaged spinal cord.</p>