The health and quality of life of patients with spinal cord injury can be greatly improved by appropriate selection from a wide range of currently available assistive technology for preventing complications and for restoring function that might otherwise be lost for life. Furthermore, devices developed for spinal cord injury often find use in many other disabilities and can often be cost-effective for health care systems.
Rapidly improving capabilities of these new technologies now provide exciting prospects of neurorehabilitation early after injury. In addition to the physical restoration of movement, the concept of neural reconditioning via locomotion has evolved from animal and human studies focused on the neural plasticity of the spinal cord. The capacity for neuroplasticity of the central nervous system – much like a toddler learning to walk – presents us with a tremendous opportunity to retrain the neural network after injury. When guided with repetition and habituation, locomotor training and neuromuscular activation below the level of the lesion can promote meaningful functional reorganization of the neural networks, leading to more substantial functional improvement even with incomplete regeneration.
