Brussels, 21/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - The research project "Stand up and walk", cofinanced by the European Commission under the Fourth Framework Programme, has helped improve the mobility of paraplegics. Co-ordinated by Professor Pierre Rabischong of University of Montpellier (southern France), the project has led to development of a programme enabling paraplegic patients to regain mobility. The patients in question are paralysed as a result of an accident that has broken the nervous connection in the spinal column, rather than a degenerative disease. They can be helped provided the muscles have not atrophied excessively. An initial patient operated on recently has regained partial mobility. Using an external command system, he can once again stand up and move around slowly on a flat surface. The six-hour operation consists of implanting a microchip and electrodes stimulating an artificial contraction of the muscle fibres.
Cofinanced by the European Commission in the amount of EUR 1.5 million, or half its total budget, the project involves teams from the University of Montpellier and the Frauhofer Biomedical Technology Institute in St Ingbert (Saarland, Germany). The non-profit-making association "European Calies", based in the United Kingdom and which manages a network of rehabilitation centres with partners from five other Member States (France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Netherlands), also participated in the project, helping prepare patients to undergo the operation. The project has also given rise to the creation of a new SME in Montpellier: Neuromédics, which has the support of two industrial partners, namely IBM for the production of chips and Thomson-CSF for the electric signal transmission system.