Medicine: Bionic Back

Spine-straightening electricity

For decades, the standard way to straighten out a child's curved spine was with a bulky back brace. Worn for up to eight years, it was not a pleasant prospect for the 25 out of 1,000 American teen-agers (90% girls) afflicted with spinal curvatures, or scoliosis. For those with severe curves, surgery often was required. It too had its unpleasant consequences, sometimes including nine months' confinement in a hip-to-chin plaster body cast.

Over the years, doctors have tried to soften the treatment: braces have gotten smaller, casts lighter. Now, for moderate cases, braces may be eliminated altogether. In hospitals around the world, doctors are testing electrical devices that have arrested or partly reversed the progression of scoliosis in nearly nine out of ten cases. Worn only at night, the gadgets have two electrodes that are placed on the patient's back over the convex side of the spinal curve. An implantable model has three electrodes that are buried under the skin. A bedside transmitter is used to trigger a pulsing current five or six times a minute. This stimulates muscle contractions that gradually pull the spine into line. Though the devices are still experimental, they appear to be as effective as bracing. Reports Boston Orthopedist John Emans: "Patients are delighted because they can look and act like other youngsters during the day." Some are so enthusiastic, in fact, that they flaunt their hardware. Notes Dr. Walter Bobechko, chief of orthopedic surgery at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children: "The kids take the transmitters to school and say, 'See, I'm the bionic woman.' "