With the help of robot-assisted rehabilitation and electrochemical spinal cord stimulation, rats with clinically relevant spinal cord injuries regained control of their otherwise paralyzed limbs. But how do brain commands for walking, swimming and stair-climbing bypass the injury and still…
Category: Research (page 12)
Epidural stimulation shown to normalize blood pressure following spinal cord injury
Many people with a severe spinal cord injury—especially at higher levels in the spine—have problems with blood pressure regulation. This can dramatically affect their quality of life. Researchers from Kentucky Spinal cord injury Research Center (KSCIRC) at the University of…
Soft neural interfaces enable delivery of electrical and chemical stimulation to the spinal cord
New developments in soft neural interfaces are enabling the delivery of electrical and chemical stimulation to the spinal cord. The stimulations restored locomotion in animal models of paralysis. The soft interfaces can be placed either below or above the dura…
Asterias provides update for its AST-OPC1 Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial in severe spinal cord injury
Asterias Biotherapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to developing cell-based therapeutics, provided an update on how company’s ongoing Phase1/2a SCiStar designed to evaluate the safety and potential efficacy of AST-OPC1 in the treatment of severe cervical spinal cord injury. In the update, Michael…
Nerve discovery offers hope to patients suffering major spinal cord injuries
Australian researchers have found that roughly half of people classified as having complete spinal cord injuries may still have surviving sensory nerve connections sending messages to the brain. This new finding could help new develop treatments to enhance the surviving…
Lamprey genes that aid in spinal recovery are also found in humans
For many years scientists have known that the lamprey fish can spontaneously recover from a spinal cord injury but the reason behind this was unknown. Now scientists have uncovered that many of the genes involved in the repair of the injured…
Spinal cord epidural stimulation effects on urogenital and bowel outcomes
This study aims to investigate the effects of spinal cord epidural stimulation as an alternative approach to improve bladder, bowel and sexual function after SCI. Spinal cord epidural stimulation, along with activity-based training, may help provide an appropriate level of…
Paraplegic rats walk and regain feeling after stem cell treatment
In a study led by Dr. Shulamit Levenberg, researchers implanted human stem cells into rats with a complete spinal cord injury. Three weeks after the introduction of the stem cells, the rats showed significant improvements in mobility and sensory perception…
The regenerative properties of Gecko tails could help heal spinal cord injuries
Scientists at the University of Guelph in Canada have discovered that the Gecko tail—which also includes part of its spinal cord—contains a specific type of stem cell that rapidly proliferates and churns out proteins in response to injury. These proteins generate…
Breakthrough treatment lets man with spinal cord injury stand and move legs
Andrew Meas who had a complete C6/7 spinal cord injury has regained the ability to INDEPENDENTLY stand up and move his legs without the aid of an electrical stimulator! Over the last few years, Electrical stimulation to restore motor function…