New Therapy Gives Hope to Patients With Spinal Cord Injury

Non-invasive electrode stimulation offers enhanced mobility to the partially paralyzed

- Joyce Teo

In 2024, while clearing debris from the Moringa tree in his backyard, Mr Reuben T. Sreetharan fell, landing hard on his feet before collapsing into a seated position. There was no pain, but he could not move his legs.

At the hospital, the 53-year-old businessman learned that the fall had injured his spinal cord in the middle back, which partially severed his brain's connection to the body from below that area. His hospital stay lasted five months, during which he had to learn how to live without the use of his lower body.

In Singapore, the National Neuroscience Institute (NNI) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) previously said they see approximately 100 new cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) annually, while the hospitals in the National University Health System (NUHS) cluster manage an average of 35 new inpatient cases every year.

Falls are a leading cause of this life-altering condition, especially in older adults, who may be at a higher risk of premature death due to injury-related complications.

There is no known cure for SCI, which results in either complete or incomplete loss of sensory and/or motor functions below the injury level, but researchers here and around the world are exploring new treatments, including therapies and advanced assistive technologies.

A promising research area is electrode stimulation, which involves delivering electrical pulses through electrodes either placed on the skin, known as transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation, or surgically implanted near the spinal cord.