EPI_nanoSTIM · Enabling motor control after a spinal cord injury through nanoscaled electrical

Enabling motor control after a spinal cord injury through nanoscaled electrical

A spinal cord injury causes motor paralysis, sensory deficit, autonomic dysfunctions and a series of life-threatening complications that can now rarely be ameliorated. In case of a complete paralysis, the chances of recovering volitional motor control below injury after two years is negligible. Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord has been recently used to elicit volitional motor control in paraplegics, although no detailed analysis has ever been performed to define the optimal characteristics to facilitate recovery. Indeed, only stereotyped trains of pulses are still employed in experimental research and clinics, and yield to highly variable functional outcomes, possibly associated with debilitating side effects due to the high intensity used. Moreover, current electrostimulators do not allow the safe delivery of customized signals and the possibility to simultaneously stimulate and record epidural potentials to target stimulation over the most effective sites. This study tested on preclinical models some promising innovative hardware and software tools to suggest promising clinical trials to improve volitional motor recovery after spinal cord injury. The main aims of the project were to: - refine a multielectrode array interface recently designed at UCLA, exploring new materials; - use the array to stimulate and record electrical potentials from the surface of the dorsal cord; - find the most responsive sites to stimulation and assess the functionality of spinal tracts pre- and post- lesion; - develop and identify new variable patterns of stimulation to restore descending motor control after spinal cord injury; - explore the mechanisms supporting this innovative neuromodulation. The project clearly indicated that a variable protocol of stimulation, called Dynamic Stimulation (DS), potentiates the motor output in rats with and without a spinal cord injury. Furthermore, the innovative epidural multielectrode arrays used in the current project are optimal to selectively activate distinct spinal and cortical areas. Finally, I validated the new interface for recording electrical potentials from the surface of the dorsal cord.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union