Spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) - sometimes referred to as spinal cord trauma - is damage to the long bundle of nervous tissue that extends from the brain down the core of the spine.

It may be caused by direct insult to the spinal cord, or by the results of damage to the surrounding tissue and bones of the spine. SCI may be relatively minor, or serious enough (acute SCI) to cause paraplegia or quadriplegia.

Spinal cord injury treatment should ideally begin at the instant of trauma, and frequently requires immobilization as well as the introduction of biochemicals such as the steroid methylprednisolone to reduce the damaging effects of the trauma. Current literature indicates it should be administered immediately, and may well produce increased benefits if administered for at least 24 hours.

Worldwide, some 40 million people suffer SCI every year. The vast majority are young males, not surprisingly associated with high risk activities. Many people with SCI respond well to therapy and may experience a steady reduction of symptoms such as severe paralysis over time.

However, many others with acute SCI will experience a lifetime of disability and be challenged to find ways to overcome the effects of their trauma. Assistive Technology (AT) is highly effective in restoring the ability to communicate with text, text-to-speech (TTS) and computer-aided applications.

NeuroSwitch offers an excellent means for overcoming those disabling effects of acute spinal cord injury that affect communication and remote controls, by aiming to enable a person to launch and run the regular text-writing, email, internet and entertainment programs on the Apple MacBook Pro computer that is included in the system.