Recently, scientists from Israel used human materials and cells to design functional 3D human spinal cord tissue for the first time, which is expected to allow paralyzed people to resume walking. Experiments have shown that after implantation, 100% of the experimental models of acute paralysis and 80% of the models of chronic paralysis recovered the ability to walk. In the future, scientists will further design personalized spinal implants and will prepare clinical trials in human patients to repair tissue damaged by injury without the risk of rejection, enabling paralyzed people to get up and walk again.
The importance of the spinal cord
Spinal nerves are made up of many bundles of nerves and nerve cells. It can transmit the sensations of the body (such as pain, temperature, and touch) to the center (brain), and it can also transmit the brain's instructions to the motor muscles to produce random movements. It is also responsible for some neural reflexes to control the nerve function of the sphincter in the stool.
The dangers of spinal cord injury
Spinal cord injury can cause corresponding pathological changes such as sensation, movement disorders, reflex abnormalities, and urinary and urinary incontinence below the level of injury, which is often referred to as "quadriplegia" (referring to cervical spinal cord injury) and "paraplegia" (referring to thoracic and lumbar spinal cord injuries). Spinal cord injuries can result in lifelong disability, leaving many people unable to take care of themselves, needing to be cared for, and can result in many comorbidities. For example, long-term bed rest, pressure sores caused by local skin compression, urinary infections caused by urinary incontinence, osteoporosis and even fractures caused by long-term non-standing, contracture fixation caused by long-term non-movement of bones and joints, muscle atrophy, and spasms and pain caused by nerve destruction of the spinal cord, ectopic ossification around the hip and knee joints, venous thrombosis of the lower limbs, and so on.