(NECN: Kristy Lee) – There is some new technology in medicine that is helping people with spinal cord problems.
The University of Maryland’s vector system is giving new hope and making it safer and easier for patients to relearn how to walk.
Louie Quiambao is learning to walk again after what doctors are calling a “spinal stroke” in 2010 that left his legs partially paralyzed.
He said, “I had no feeling. I had no movement, no bowel or bladder control. And so they tried to basically jump-start my spinal cord using steroids and after about a week decided it’s probably not going to happen.”
He started rehabilitation at the University of Maryland and works twice a week with a physical therapist using the “Vector Gate and Safety System,” a robotic trolley system attached to a track on the ceiling.
The system works better than many others because it allows the patient to walk around freely and tackle obstacles like stairs.
