Melanie Reid’s left hand had “flopped like a bunch of bananas” after breaking her neck in a horse-riding accident 14 years ago.
She can now use it to swipe through her smartphone and untie her seatbelt thanks to a groundbreaking new treatment that uses electrical pulses.
It is thought that when combined with physiotherapy, it can help patients who are paralyzed from the neck down regain movement. A trial using the procedure on 60 patients discovered that 43 exhibited some improvement in the use of their arms and hands.
The team is requesting regulatory authority to utilize their method to treat patients at hospitals in the United States.
It works by placing electrodes around the afflicted area. High frequency pulses of electricity enhance the messages our brain delivers to us.
