Scientists in Switzerland have created a thin, stretchy implant that can be applied to the surface of the spinal cord to administer electrical and chemical stimulation, potentially paving the way for science to restore lower body movement in humans.
The e-Dura implant, made from silicon substrate embedded with electrodes, replicates the soft tissue around the spinal cord. Electrical and chemical stimulation has been adopted for studies using rats with spinal cord injuries. In a 2012 study, the same researchers showed that electrical-chemical stimulation could regain lower body use when a rat’s intelligence and regenerative capacity was awakened using a treatment of chemicals. Researchers found that the implant didn’t do any damage to the rat.
However, applying this method to humans has been a bit more risky. Applying them to the spinal cord would cause the implant to rub, which would then cause inflammation and scar tissue. Ultimately, the implant would be rejected.
While the research team is confident in their ability to successfully implant the soft and stretchy e-Dura device without rejection into rat subjects, the animals have been, up until now, stimulated externally. There still hasn’t been a correlation between the brain and the spine. According to Professor Stephanie Lacour, co-author of the study from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, this is the new bridge that they need to cross: “There’s no link at the moment between the brain; so the motor command between the brain and the actual stimulation pattern on the spinal cord. So we now also have to find a way to link the two so that the person will think about moving and, indeed, the stimulation will be synchronized.”
There are over 250,000 Americans who have suffered spinal cord injuries. Science is now a little bit closer to being able to help those who cannot walk.
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