January 17, 2024 – Let’s celebrate the end of Athar East to West, Professor Matteo Parsani’s coast-to-coast across Saudi Arabia.
Matteo arrived today at KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) after traveling over 3000 kilometers by handbike and trike. He used arm pedaling and a functional electrostimulation system (FES) to produce leg movement.
- The goal at KAUST, where Parsani teaches applied mathematics and computational science, sometimes seemed unattainable. “Some days I thought I couldn’t make it” said the Italian professor who lives with an incomplete spinal cord injury since 2017. “The physical fatigue, the freezing nights alternating with scorching afternoons, but above all the mental burden, put me to the test. I thank my team who never left me alone, as well as the people of Saudi Arabia for their warm welcoming, the scientists, doctors, and physiotherapists here in Saudi Arabia and from Italy who ensured my safety”.
- Our Clinical Director, Dr. Franco Molteni, was there to applaud Matteo’s spirit of self-determination, along with Eleonora Guanziroli, the head of our bioengineering department, Marco Tarabini, and Alessandra Pedrocchi, both associate professors at Politecnico di Milano.
- “It will be particularly interesting to see how the Central Nervous System (CNS) has changed as a result of this intensive training” says Dr. Molteni. “We already know that technology, if used appropriately, is capable of facilitating neuroplasticity and changing the biology of our body. Now we need to put the results of this experiment to good use by creating exercise paradigms that are available to all people undergoing a rehabilitation process”.
