Innovative New Treatments for Spinal Cord Injuries

Steve Adubato goes on-location to Kessler Foundation’s “Transforming Care and Recovery for People with Spinal Cord Injury” event to speak with physicians, experts and research participants about innovative spinal stimulation research that is aiding recovery from spinal cord injuries.

Guests Include:

Gail Forrest, PhD, Director, Center for Spinal Stimulation at Kessler Foundation
Jimmy Brown, Research Participant, Kessler Foundation
Natalie Barrett, Research Participant, Kessler Foundation
Kelly Thomas, Research Participant, University of Louisville
Steven Kirshblum, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Kessler Foundation and Co-Director, Center for Spinal Stimulation
Alexander Giaquinto, PhD, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Kessler Foundation
Rodger DeRose, President & Chief Executive Officer, Kessler Foundation

10/19/19 #2250

Excerpt:

"Hi, I'm Steve Adubato. Here on location at Kessler Foundation. Folks behind me, you see them, they're gathered for a forum we're doing tonight I'll be moderating. It's called Transforming Care and Recovery for People with Spinal Cord Injury. This is put on by the Center For Spinal Stimulation. For the next half hour, you'll hear from researchers with the center, research participants, all of whom have had serious spinal cord injuries. We'll talk about the actual research they're involved in, how it's changed their lives, how their lives have been improved, and what it means to you watching right now. Why you need to know about this. It is the most incredibly innovative research you will ever see, that deals with people who have very serious injuries, and just want to do what you and I do. Pick up a ball. Throw to your kid. Walk. Pick up a glass. All of that will be demonstrated in the panel discussion tonight. But you're about to hear from those research participants, and the researchers, in this very special program. We're welcomed by our good friend, we've talked to you many times before on public broadcasting. Doctor Gail Forrest is Director, Center for Spinal Stimulation at Kessler Foundation. Good to see you Doctor. Good to see you. Tell folks what this center is all about and why it matters so much. So in a nutshell, the center is about stimulating the cord, either with an implantable electrode, or stimulating the cord on the surface of the skin on the outside. So you have two types. You've got epidural stimulation. Let's go slow here. You've got epidural stimulation...? Stimulation. Which is implanting electrodes in the lower part of the spinal cord. Sure. And then you've got the transcutaneous, which is stimulating the cord on the superficial part on the outside of the skin, both for recovery of hand function, arm function, trunk function, and leg function. Whole limb function. Does the type of spinal cord injury someone has dictate the kind of treatment, or the kind of research, they could and should be involved in? To answer your question requires us to do a lot more research. But you will see their restoration, and it's all about restoring their ability, their hand function, their arm function, or their ability to walk over ground. Whether it be..."