95. Next-Generation Spinal Implants, Link Between Alzheimer’s & Sleep, More Nuclear Fusion Updates

News: <p><a href='https://www.science.org/content/article/next-generation-spinal-implants-help-people-severe-paralysis-walk-cycle-and-swim'>Next-generation spinal implants help people with severe paralysis walk, cycle, and swim</a> | Science.Org (01:40)</p> <ul><li style="font-weight:400;">When trauma severely damages the bundle of nerves that make up a person’s spinal cord, the brain’s electrical signals no longer reach the body’s muscles, resulting in paralysis.</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">This epidural stimulation device, a thin sheet of electrodes implanted beneath the vertebra of the lower spine, can recreate electrical signals beyond the injury site and trigger leg movements.</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">To trigger leg and torso movements, researchers need to stimulate the dorsal roots, pairs of thick sensory fibers extending from either side of the spinal cord.<ul><li style="font-weight:400;">Existing electrode strips are too short to reach the dorsal root</li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Researchers at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology designed a longer and wider implant, roughly the size of a pointer finger.<ul><li style="font-weight:400;">Electrodes positioned to precisely stimulate the dorsal roots</li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Used computer models to predict the ideal position of the implant on each patient’s spinal cord.</li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">Finally, the team designed software to activate the electrodes in set patterns that produce movements such as standing up and stepping. <ul><li style="font-weight:400;">Might help retrain damaged networks of nerves in the spinal cord to better receive and interpret signals</li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight:400;">With the new electrode design, 3 men paralyzed in motorcycle accidents have become the first success stories for a new spinal stimulation device that could enable faster and easier recoveries than its predecessors.<ul><li style="font-weight:400;">Able to take supported steps within 1