Category Archives: Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

ScienceDaily (June 15, 2012) Justin M. Brown, MD, reconstructive neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health System, is one of only a few specialists in the world who have pioneered a novel technique to restore hand function in patients with spinal cord injury. In a delicate four-hour procedure, Brown splices together tiny nerve endings, only one millimeter in width, to help restore hand mobility. Most patients return home 24 hours after surgery. "Even if a patient appears to have lost total hand function, as long as there is some nerve in the arm or shoulder under the patient's control, some mobility may be regained," said Brown, director of the Neurosurgery Peripheral Nerve Program and co-director of the Center for Neurophysiology and Restorative Neurology at UC San Diego Health System. "With a nerve transfer, the goal is to reverse paralysis. This means achieving functional grasp and release so that patients can eat independently, operate a computer or hold a loved one's hand." Brown and his team treat hand impairments at cervical level 5 and below. Operating under a microscope, Brown disconnects the damaged nerve and reconnects it to a healthy one. The healthy nerve is taken from underneath the muscles of the … Continue reading →

Morphine administered to those with spinal cord injuries can slow the recovery of locomotor function, increase tissue loss and even produce symptoms of increased pain in chronic sufferers, according to a Texas A&M associate research professor. Michelle Hooks research uses rats with spinal cord injuries to see how they recover with varying doses of self-administered morphine. This is a pioneering study nobody looked at addiction in rats with spinal cord injuries, Hook said. Initially her lab at A&M found that rats with spinal cord injuries preventing them from using their rear legs could walk all right within two weeks. The same recovery was not seen in rats administered morphine. Morphine is administered to the rats intravenously, as it would be to humans in a clinic. In Hooks research, a control group of rats is given varying doses of morphine from .75 to 3 mm. The rats can press small levers and doses of morphine are delivered. The maximum amount a rat can receive is 30 mm. Rats who were only given .75 mm didnt take too much morphine after their first lever press. Rats given 1.5 were in the middle and rats given 3 mm took well more than the … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (OTC/BB: NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), today announced thatEd Wirth, MD, PhD, InVivos Chief Science Officer, is scheduled to present at the Clinical Outlooks for Regenerative Medicine Conference on Tuesday, June 19, 2012. Dr. Wirth will speak on the "Neurodegenerative Disease and Spinal Cord Injury Panel" at 1:30 pm. The conference, organized jointly by the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, will be held at the Starr Center in the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston, MA. About Alliance for Regenerative Medicine The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM) is a Washington, DC-based multi-stakeholder advocacy organization that promotes legislative, regulatory and reimbursement initiatives necessary to facilitate access to life-giving advances in regenerative medicine. ARM also works to increase public understanding of the field and its potential to transform human healthcare, providing business development and investor outreach services to support the growth of its member companies and research organizations. Prior to the formation of ARM in 2009, there was no advocacy organization operating in Washington, DC to specifically represent the interests of the companies, research institutions, investors and patient groups that comprise … Continue reading →

From Staff Reports According to a report from USA Today, boxer Paul Williams is sliding himself in and out of bed after suffering a spinal cord injury May 27. FILE PHOTO Paul Williams Williams, the three-time world champion boxer from Aiken, was paralyzed below his chest when he was thrown more than 100 feet from his motorcycle after losing control on a curve. Williams was diagnosed with a thoracic level (T 10-11) spinal cord injury. He was admitted to Shepherd Centers Spinal Cord Injury Program for care and observation, where doctors have determined an appropriate treatment plan. Williams was undergoing rehabilitation this morning and was unable to attend a press conference, where doctors updated his progress. In a previous article in The Augusta Chronicle, Williams said hes approaching his new obstacle like a title shot with the ultimate goal of proving to the experts he will walk again. Its like were training for a fight, said George Peterson, Williams trainer since he turned professional 14 years ago. Like Paul has been so many times before, he likes proving people wrong. And hes been doubted so many times and proven people wrong so many times, he made a believer out of … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (OTC/BB: NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI), today announced thatFrank Reynolds, InVivos Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to make a presentation at theSidoti Semi-Annual New York Micro-Cap Conferenceat 8:00-8:35 AM EDT on Thursday, June 14, 2012, in the Estate 4 Carnegie Hall room. The Company's executives will also meet with financial community members to discussthe Company's ongoing operations. The conference will be held at the Grand Hyatt New York Hotel in midtown Manhattan. About Sidoti & Company, LLC Sidoti & Company, LLC, founded in 1999, continues to set the Wall Street standard for independent small-cap equity research, while rapidly becoming a driving force in micro-cap research, launching coverage of more than 100 equities of $200 million market cap or less since inception in mid-2010. Its analysts mine dozens of industries to provide unbiased, institutional-quality research focusing on the investment merits of profitable companies at a sub-$3 billion market cap, and it anticipates extending coverage to 700 small-cap equities by the end of 2012. About InVivo Therapeutics InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. is focused on utilizing polymers as a platform technology to develop treatments to improve function … Continue reading →

[Credit: EPFL]Here at GeekTech, we've seen lots of contraptions to help the disabled regain some of their mobility. Now, a group of Swiss scientists from the cole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) have found a way to rewire the spinal cord of rats after a paralyzing injury. This rat (pictured above) was just paralyzed a few weeks prior and is now running on a treadmill. The team accomplished this impressive medical feat with an extensive treatment of electro-chemical therapy and training with the help of a robotic harness. The treatment starts with a round of injections that contain a chemical solution of monoamine agonists to rouse the dormant spinal cord nerves. These chemicals are used to replace the neurotransmitters (dopamine, adrenaline, and serotonin receptors) that normally triggered the brainstem. Once the chemicals have excited the spinal cord neurons, the scientists start electrically stimulating the spinal cord with implanted electrodes. This is done to retrain the rats nervous system to use it lower limbs again--it's much like training brain control, but with a physiological component. The rats were first tested on a moving treadmill where they instinctively walked forward with their front legs and previously paralyzed hind limbs. The scientist eventually … Continue reading →

Moving on: Jason Ellery (left), Matthew Pierri and Josh Wood believe they can recover further. Photo: Luis Enrique Ascui Patients with spinal cord injuries are challenging mainstream treatments in their bid to recover use of their paralysed limbs. Quadriplegic Matthew Pierri reports. IN THE early morning of June 17, 2007, I had a nightmare. I was strapped to a bed in a dark room, paralysed below my chest. I struggled in silence until a lady appeared. She sighed and told me to relax, asking me if I knew where I was; if I knew what had happened. I didn't answer, I just tried to wake up. You never forget the moment you realise you're already awake. People in wheelchairs used to scare me. I would always keep clear, secretly afraid that I might catch their illness. I knew nothing about spinal cord injuries or the people who suffered them. Until I had one. Advertisement: Story continues below A football accident left me stranded in a world I didn't understand, or even know existed. A world I want to get out of. Even if I'm told I never will. As far as catastrophic injuries go, there are few worse than those … Continue reading →

By Tamara Cohen PUBLISHED: 13:14 EST, 31 May 2012 | UPDATED: 06:18 EST, 1 June 2012 Paralysed patients have been given fresh hope after scientists enabled rats with severed spines to run again. Using a cocktail of drugs and electrical impulses, researchers regrew nerves linking the spinal cord to the brain. After two weeks, the animals were not only able to walk, but climb stairs and run. Scroll down for video: Climbing the steps: Researchers at EPFL have successfully used electrochemical stimulation to restore voluntary movement following a paralysing spinal cord injury After only a few weeks of stimulation, nerve connections begin to grow again - and this could be of huge significance for the 50,000 sufferers Professor Gregoire Courtine said the study revealed the body could recover from some injuries previously thought to cause permanent paralysis. His team, based in Switzerland, believe human trials could begin next year for patients with spinal injuries thanks to a 7million grant. Continued here: Paralysed patients may get revolutionary treatment after rats with severed spinal cords taught to sprint again after ... … Continue reading →

NEW YORK Many scientists are working on treatments to help people with spinal cord injuries walk. Now there's a striking new demonstration of how one approach might work: Spinal nerve stimulation helped rats in a Swiss lab overcome paralysis to walk and climb stairs. That may sound impressive, but similar progress has been made in people, too. The difference this time is the particular technique used. It's a natural extension of exciting work that's been done by many groups, said Dr. John McDonald, director of the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. He wasn't involved in the research. In the experiment, reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science, researchers stimulated spinal nerve circuits and used physical training. The stimulation was electrical current from implanted electrodes plus injections of a chemical mix. To do the training, the rats were placed in a harness so that only their hind legs reached the ground. Then they were placed on a treadmill, which produced only reflexive stepping, and on stationary ground, where they had to choose to make their legs move if they wanted to reach a piece of chocolate. They took their first voluntary steps about … Continue reading →

Category: Science & Technology Posted: June 1, 2012 12:08PM Author: Guest_Jim_* One of the most amazing characteristics of the brain is its plasticity. After even some severe traumas, like having a hemisphere removed, the brain can adapt and move functions around to continue functioning. In the past it has appeared that only the brain was plastic because the spinal cord would not adapt in a similar way to injuries. Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fdrale de Lausanne (EPFL) have changed that though and given rats with severe paralysis the ability to walk again. The first step of the experiment was to 'wake up' the dormant part of the spinal cord found beneath the injury. This was accomplished with a special chemical solution that replaced neurotransmitters normally released by the brainstem in order to stimulate dormant neurons. Next the researchers used electrodes to stimulate the spinal cord further, making it ready to operate. The brain is not the only controller in the nervous system. Other networks of neurons, including the spinal cord, are able to respond to external stimuli, which is what causes involuntary motions. The researchers placed the rats on a treadmill and discovered it could walk. The spinal cord was … Continue reading →