( CNN ) -- Electrical stimulation from a spinal cord implant , mimicking the signals the brain would normally transmit to move the body , has allowed a paralyzed patient to stand on his own and walk on a treadmill with assistance , researchers said Thursday . At a news conference in New York City , doctors introduced Rob Summers , a 25-year-old , paralyzed spinal cord injury patient from Oregon . He received continual epidermal stimulation to the lower spinal cord , researchers said , enabling the muscle and joint movements that are required to stand and , with assistance , to step . `` This stimulation causes changes in the brain and changes in the spinal cord , '' said Dr. V. Reggie Edgerton , a professor in the Departments of Integrative Biology and Physiology and of Neurobiology at the University of California , Los Angeles . `` Now we need to know how this has occurred . '' A therapy already in use in a number of U.S. hospitals is known as functional electronic stimulation ( FES ) , in which stimulants or electrodes are placed on the skin above the muscles to help chronic spinal cord injury patients move their limbs and , in some cases , walk with assistance . In the newly unveiled procedure , however , the electrodes are implanted in the patient 's body . But even beyond that , there are distinct differences in the two procedures , the researchers said . `` In our case it 's a constant signal , '' said Dr. Susan Harkema , a professor at the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Louisville . `` FES tries to bypass the circuitry by stimulating the muscles externally with electrodes . We allow the spinal cord to control the muscles on its own . '' The researchers said in the initial phase of their experiment , Summers was able to reach a standing position , supplying the muscular push himself while his spinal cord was being stimulated electrically . He could stand independently , bearing full weight , for up to four minutes at a time He also began to move his toes , ankles , knees and hips while being stimulated . `` This does not represent a cure for spinal cord injury , '' Edgerton said , `` but it 's something to build on . '' At today 's press conference , Summers , who became paralyzed in his lower extremities following a hit-and-run accident in July 2006 , talked about his experience . `` I was able to stand independently , the third day we turned it on , '' said Summers . `` I was amazed . I use it two hours a day now , and I hope to someday go back to playing baseball . '' The project , which is outlined in the latest issue of the medical journal Lancet , was funded by the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation , which provides money for research on spinal cord injuries .
Paralyzed patient , 25 , said he is able to stand by himself , walk with assistance . Rob Summers received continual epidermal stimulation to the lower spinal cord . He was paralyzed from his neck down and could not move or speak for a year after receiving it. New treatment allows `` the spinal cord to control the muscles on its own '' Though not a cure , `` it 's something to build on , '' Dr. V. Reggie Edgerton says .