Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Pastimes : ASK Vendit Off Topic Questions -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: nohalo who wrote (10062)	3/20/2000 4:13:00 PM
From: Vendit™	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19374

I see the announcement happened just 14 minutes prior to the close. I saw a pre release earlier that said the announcement would be at 1:30 GMT. I sold. Rising in after market as I type. <g>

To: nohalo who wrote (10062)	3/20/2000 5:27:00 PM
From: Vendit™	Respond to of 19374

FWIW (COMTEX) A: In medical breakthrough, paraplegic walks again because o A: In medical breakthrough, paraplegic walks again because of implanted computer chip BRUSSELS, Belgium, Mar 20, 2000 (AP Worldstream via COMTEX) -- Marc Merger rose from his wheelchair and took a few tentative steps. Ten years after a car crash paralyzed his legs, a breakthrough implant of a computer chip let him stand up and walk again last week. The December 1990 accident left the French financial consultant in a coma and when he woke up two days later, his severed spinal nerves had turned him into a paraplegic -- seemingly for life. Then in came Prof. Pierre Rabischong of Montpellier University, an expert in human biomechanics. Now, the 39-year old father of two has a computer implant that allows him to control the muscle movements of his legs. 'It is hard to imagine not being able to walk ... the path has been long and hard,' he said at the headquarters of the European Union, which has invested in such research. 'It was a very hard choice,' he said, fearing the experiments could have resulted in little more than a huge letdown. During a 10-hour operation last December, surgeons implanted some 15 electrodes on nerves and muscles in Merger's legs up to his pelvis-- connecting them with wires to a computer chip inserted in his abdomen. The surgical procedure had to be repeated in February after technical glitches developed. Merger was able to standup by himself in early March, and he took his first steps last Friday. 'I can feel the muscle contractions when I walk,' Merger said of the experience. 'We are trying to reproduce what happens in the brain ... with electrodes to nerves and muscles,' said Rabischong. Merger is able to create artificial muscle movement through the implanted chip, which controls his movement, allowing him to stand up and walk, Rabischong told reporters. The patient communicates with the chip by pressing buttons on a specially designed walking cane that acts as a remote control. The cane sends the signals to the chip which then converts them to muscle impulses transmitting them to the electrodes in the legs. 'We are not working miracles here, but allowing patients to stand up using their own muscles,' Rabischong said. 'We are by no means at the end of the road. A lot of work is still required,' he said. Merger was living proof of that Monday, because a computer glitch failed to communicate the commands to the computer chip. Meanwhile, Italian Gabrielle Tronconi, 23, who has yet to undergo the implant showed journalists his progress with external electrodes wired to his legs. Specially designed boots allow him to stand and move one foot in front of the other. 'I hope to walk because of the research developments,' he said. 'There are a whole lot of people like me who need this,' Merger said, referring to the boost of confidence and outlook the implant has given him and his family. Rabischong said that there are more than 300,000 people in Europe with paralysis of the lower limbs. Most of them are young he said, with the average age of 31. Rabischong warned that the project is not meant for everyone, and said that results would vary from patient to patient as the technology is only applicable to certain types of paralysis. He said the cost of one implant was around francs 200,000 (dlrs 30,000). Six others, including Tronconi are in line to get the implants later this year. The procedure is part of a European Union-funded program which includes research in six EU countries-- France, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Italy, and Britain. The research and medical specialists started in 1996 to develop the technology with industry partners. (cb-rac) Copyright 2000 Associated Press, All rights reserved. -0- By CONSTANT BRAND (PROFILE (WS SL:BC-EU-Paraplegic Walks; CT:i; (REG:EURO;) (REG:BRIT;) (REG:SCAN;) (REG:ENGL;) (LANG:ENGLISH;)) ) * end of story *