The Healthcare Institute for National Renewal and Innovationn (HINRI)

The goals for our "reversing paralysis" campaign was to accelerate new cures for complete spinal cord injuries and change the standard of care for complete injuries. Thanks to our donors' support, we are making good progress. Our primary focus has been the sponsorship of a clinical study under dr. reggie edgerton at ucla, a pioneer in treating spinal cord injury patients with electrical stimulation. In their first test of efficacy of their non-invasive transcutaneous neuromodulation technique, 5/5 subjects regained voluntary locomotor-like rhythmic movement of the lower limbs and significant gains in sensory function. Of the six patients in the clinical study that we have supported, 5 have already moved from ais a (no movement or sensation below the injury) to ais c (some movement and sensation). How does this success rate compare? Numerous reviews have been published in efforts to define the percentage of subjects with a severe spinal injury (ais a, sensory and motor complete) who then advance to higher diagnostic levels, reflecting gains in sensory and motor function. In one of the most recent reviews of the literature, conversions of ais a patients to a higher ais level occurred at a frequency ranging between approximately 14% to 20%. Dr. edgerton's success rate is greater than 80% in reaching a diagnosis of at least ais c. dr. edgerton's device is expected to receive fda approval early next year. If approved, we believe this will pave the way for changing the standard of care because we will have demonstrated that even chronically, completely paralyzed individuals can recover some function.