InVivo Therapeutics is about to start a clinical trial using its degradable polymer Neuro-Spinal Scaffold for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients. In preclinical studies, the Neuro-Spinal Scaffold promoted cell adhesion, neurite sprouting, the growth of remodeled spinal cord tissue containing myelinated axons, and…
Month: April 2014
Using brain signals to move paralysed limbs
To help people suffering paralysis from injury, stroke or disease, scientists have invented brain-machine interfaces that record electrical signals of neurons in the brain and translate them to movement. Usually, that means the neural signals direct a device, like a…
StemCells Inc. completes enrolment in spinal cord injury trial
StemCells Inc. has completed enrolment in the Company’s Phase I/II clinical trial in spinal cord injury. The multi-national Phase I/II trial is evaluating both safety and preliminary efficacy of the company’s HuCNS-SC® human neural stem cells as a treatment for…
Prof Susan Harkema talks about her electrical stimulation work for spinal cord injury
Reporting in the journal Brain, researchers write of reawakening the legs of four men paralyzed from the waist down. They did so by implanting electronic devices in the men’s spines. The devices send out electrical stimulation that re-trains the nerves to…
Neuralstem SCI stem cell trial approved to commence at University of California
Neuralstem, Inc. is now set to begin a Phase I safety trial to treat chronic spinal cord injury (cSCI) with its NSI-566 stem cells. The NSI-566/cSCI Phase I trial will enroll patients with thoracic spinal cord injuries (T2-T12) who have…
Aberdeen Uni to try combination treatments for spinal cord injuries
University of Aberdeen scientists are believed to be the first in the world to use a combination of different methods – including a biodegradable ‘bridge’ made of silk fibre – to treat spinal cord injury. The technique would involve placing a…
Epidural electrical stimulation update
”One day I realized I could sweat again, and to regulate my temperature, feel hot and cold. I could also feel light touch. I regained control of my bladder, bowel and sexual function and my circulation improved. I’m not…
Function restored to paralysed muscles by light-activated neurons grown from stem cells
A new way to artificially control muscles using light, with the potential to restore function to muscles paralysed by conditions such as motor neuron disease and spinal cord injury, has been developed by scientists at UCL and King’s College London.…
UK research suggests it's possible to chemically control the regeneration of nerves in the CNS
Researchers from Imperial College London and the Hertie Institute, University of Tuebingen have identified a possible mechanism for re-growing damaged nerve fibres in the central nervous system (CNS). Published in Nature Communications, the research highlights the role of a protein…