Daily electric field treatment improves spinal cord injury
Spinal cord injuries are currently incurable with devastating effects on people’s lives, but now a trial offers hope for an effective treatment.
Spinal cord injuries shatter the signal between the brain and body, often resulting in a loss of function.“Unlike a cut on the skin, which typically heals on its own, the spinal cord does not regenerate effectively, making these injuries devastating and currently incurable,” says the lead researcher.
Before birth, and to a lesser extent afterwards, naturally occurring electric fields play a vital role in early nervous system development, encouraging and guiding the growth of nerve tissue along the spinal cord. Scientists are now harnessing this same electrical guidance system in the lab. An implantable electronic device has restored movement following spinal cord injury in an animal study, raising hopes for an effective treatment for humans and even their pets.
“We developed an ultra-thin implant designed to sit directly on the spinal cord, precisely positioned over the injury site in rats,” the author says.
The device delivers a carefully controlled electrical current across the injury site. “The aim is to stimulate healing so people can recover functions lost through spinal-cord injury,” another author says.
Unlike humans, rats have a greater capacity for spontaneous recovery after spinal cord injury, which allowed researchers to compare natural healing with healing supported by electrical stimulation.
After four weeks, animals that received daily electric field treatment showed improved movement compared with those who did not.
Throughout the 12-week study, they responded more quickly to gentle touch.
“This indicates that the treatment supported recovery of both movement and sensation,” the author says. “Just as importantly, our analysis confirmed that the treatment did not cause inflammation or other damage to the spinal cord, demonstrating that it was not only effective but also safe.”
“This study offers an exciting proof of concept showing that electric field treatment can support recovery after spinal cord injury,” says another author.
The next step is to explore how different doses, including the strength, frequency, and duration of the treatment, affect recovery, to discover the most effective recipe for spinal-cord repair.
