Can Electricity Cure My Broken Neck

When Bob Soutar severed the spinal cord in his neck in a sky-diving accident, his doctors told him he would never recover.

After nine months in a spinal injuries unit, the 50-year-old busi­nessman, who was almost as badly injured as the late actor Christopher Reeve, had almost no movement or sensation below his collar bone.

He couldn't use his limbs, he struggled to talk, and even breathe. Then a friend introduced him to the sports scientist cred­ited with healing David Beck­ham's broken foot in time for the 2002 World Cup finals.

The device he used - called MicroDoctor® - emits low levels of electricity to promote the growth of new cells and help speed up the healing process. It has been used for years to treat sporting injuries, but now scientists at the Univer­sity of Kent are researching using it to rejoin and regenerate dam­aged spinal tissue.

And now, 18 months after the sports scientists' help, Bob can use one arm to feed himself, can talk easily, and can even feel the muscles in his legs.

'The change has been amazing,' says Bob, from Wilton, Wiltshire._

'After my accident, I was in a wheelchair and the only move­ment I had was in my right arm, but that was so weak all I could do was lift it, and it would flop back. 'The doctors at the spinal unit where I'd been taken said there was nothing more they could do and that I would not get back any more function in my limbs. But I was determined that I was going to get better, and would try any­thing.' Doctors at the unit were sceptical when scientist Dr David Chapman-Jones, the man who treated Beckham, arrived.

He visited Bob at Odstock Hospi­tal, a specialist unit near Salisbury, and treated him for two hours, twice a day, for two weeks. The MicroDoctor® pads were placed either side of the injury.

'I knew from my work with sports stars that the unit could speed up healing by promoting new cells to grow at the site of the injury,' says Dr Chapman-Jones. 'So it seemed logical that you might be able to treat patients with spinal injuries, many of whom have no hope of recovery from their accident.'

Dr Chapman-Jones first investi­gated the idea of helping spinal injury victims in experiments in his laboratory. He says: 'I put two pieces of separated nerve tissue in a dish and then subjected the dish to microcurrent using electricity equivalent to one-millionth the power of a torch battery. Not only did the the nerve tissue regenerate and join, but the fibres in the nerve joined correctly.

'We haven't gone out of our way to treat spinal patients. People who knew about MicroDoctor® and its effectiveness in promoting tis­sue repair in sports injuries have approached us to help. But we've been impressed, and to some extent. surprised, at how quick a response the patients have got.'

Ten weeks after the treat­ment, Bob found enough sensation had returned to his right arm to feed himself. 'My right arm became strong enough for me to use a spoon if it's strapped to my hand, and I have also gained movement in my other arm.

'The doctors had said that I would not get any. Tests have even indicated movement in the mus­cles of my hands. It's very slight, but I'm hopeful I will get back hand control eventually. Now I can talk for any length of time without problems. I can feel sen­sation in my trunk and some of the muscles in my legs. I am able to stand for half-an-hour a day with the support of a frame.'

Now Bob is working from home, though he still needs daily help.

Professor Richard Borgens, who works with electrical currents on spinal injury patients at Purdue University in Indiana, U.S. says: 'We have been trialling an implantable electrical device to stimulate spinal regrowth and have already used it in patients. 'An external device placed where the cord was severed could also . work. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility. People doubted our research initially but we have got movement and sensation from spinal injury patients below where the spine cord was severed.'

Dr Geoffrey Raisman, a leading UK expert on spinal cord repair from University College London, says: 'Nerves work by electrical current, so it is possible that elec­trical current can be used to help.'

By Martyn Halle