LONDON, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- American scientists have succeeded in using bypass technique to restore movement in paralyzed rats, which they claimed is a breakthrough.

    Using similar principles to heart bypass surgery, where veins from a patient's leg are used to get around an artery blockage, scientists at Columbia University in New York have shown that nerves can be used to circumvent spinal damage and reconnect the brain to the body, New Scientist reported Thursday.

    The pioneering technique, successfully used in experiments with rats, raises the prospect of the first human trials within five years, which could help thousands of people to regain feeling, the scientists said.

    In experiments on rats with spinal injuries, the scientists under the leadership of John Martin, a neuroscientist at Columbia University in New York, cut away a nerve from just above the injury that normally stretches into the body to control abdominal muscles and reattached it to the spine below the injury. The rats went on to show an increase in movements of previously-paralyzed limbs.

    The nerves which control movement were able to regenerate quite effectively within the spinal cord, by contrast with nerve cells which control sensation or feeling.

    When the nerves were reattached to the spinal cord they grew well and returned some function to the body, Martin said.

    Reconnecting a single nerve would not be sufficient to reactivate all of a patient's lost functions, and the patient would have to decide with their doctor what was most important to improve their quality of life.

    Martin admitted that the technique would need much more development, but said if all went well and because it employed surgical techniques already commonly used by doctors, trials in humans could start in as little as five years.