A recent medical innovation was able to help a patient of multiple system atrophy-parkinsonian type (MSA-P) walk again after being bedridden for 18 months.
The system's architecture included several electronics implanted straight in specific locations of the spinal cord. Through this approach, neurons, particularly those that manage blood pressure regulation, would be reactivated.
Multiple System Atrophy-Parkinsonian Type and Orthostatic Hypotension
A patient (left) with multiple system atrophy-parkinsonian type (MSA-P) received a spinal implant to prevent her from fainting upon standing.
The technology had given a significant improvement to the patient, allowing them to get up and walk after over a year of being paralyzed due to the crippling neurodegenerative disease.
Multiple system atrophy-parkinsonian type or MSA-P is a neurological condition that inflicts patients with numerous problems on their nervous system. Its symptoms are comparable to the effects of Parkinson's disease.
Among the targeted functions of the MSA-P is the sympathetic nervous system, a part of the collective autonomic nervous system. This function is behind the processing of our motor skills, including moving and walking.
According to a report by GEN, the MSA-P patient was able to walk up to 250 meters after being treated with the newly-discovered spinal cord therapy.
Orthostatic hypotension is among the principal targets of the implant system. This aspect is the low blood activity in a person whenever standing up. In multiple-system atrophy, the orthostatic hypotension shows a negative response, preventing an individual to stay in their standing position.
The implant functions to prevent the patient from losing their stability when making an upright posture. The system was assembled by scholars from the NeuroRestore research center.
The research on the MSA-P solution was led by Lausanne University Hospital neurosurgeon and University of Lausanne UNIL professor Jocelyne Bloch, alongside the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) specialist Gregoire Courtine.
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Advancements in Neurotechnology
MSA-P is the development of sympathetic neuron loss. When the condition occurs, a person's body may have difficulties in blood regulation. In most cases, the illness decreases the blood pressure of patients when they stand up or maintain an upright position.
Severe MSA-P causes a person to faint while standing, fall on their position randomly, or even have difficulties walking. Most cases of MSA-P shorten the life expectancy of its patients due to the limiting positions that the disease requires.
The implant utilized in the study is found viable in other applications in relation to low blood pressure therapies. The implant works on operations over tetraplegic patients, but the research is the first to utilize the same implant in a different type of neurodegenerative disease.
The new study is considered a follow-up of separate studies Courtine and Bloch developed in recent years. In 2018, the team was able to create a targeted neurotechnology that, through electrical stimulation on the spinal neurons, allowed three chronic paraplegia patients to walk again.
In the first quarter of 2022, the pair also conceptualized a more effective implant method by utilizing AI-based software. The system was tested in complete sensorimotor paralysis patients who got their independent motor movements restored after the administration.
The new study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, titled "Implanted System for Orthostatic Hypotension in Multiple System Atrophy."
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