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Car accidents, sports injuries, even too much typing and texting can injure the peripheral nerves, leaving people numb, tingling and weak hands, arms or legs. Recovery can take months and doctors have little to offer to speed it up.
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Northwestern University have developed an implantable, biodegradable device that delivers regular electrical impulses to the damaged peripheral nerves of rats, helping animals repel the nerves of their animals. legs and regain their nervous function. muscle strength faster. The size of a quarter, the device lasts about two weeks before being completely absorbed by the body.
The results are published on October 8 in Medicine of nature.
For most people with peripheral nerve damage, doctors suggest painkillers such as aspirin and physical therapy. Severe cases may require surgery, and the usual practice is to administer electrical stimulation to the injured nerves during the operation to promote recovery.
"We know that electrical stimulation during the operation is helpful, but once the operation is complete, the intervention window is closed," said co-lead author Wilson "Zack" Ray, MD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery, Biomedical Engineering and Orthopedics. surgery at the University of Washington. "With this device we have shown that programmed electrical stimulation can further improve nerve recovery."
Unlike neurons in the brain and spinal cord, the peripheral nerves that cross the arms, legs and torso can regenerate after an injury. Electrical stimulation triggers the release of growth-promoting proteins, reinforcing the natural abilities of nerve cells and helping them regenerate faster and more completely.
But so far, doctors could not afford to provide this extra momentum.
Lead co-author John Rogers, PhD, of Northwestern, and his colleagues designed and developed a device that surrounds a wounded nerve and delivers electrical impulses for days before the device degrades harmlessly into the body. The device is powered wirelessly by a transmitter located on the outside of the body that acts as a charging mat for mobile phone.
"These platforms represent the earliest examples of a" bioelectronic medicine "- systems designed that provide active therapeutic function in a programmable dosage format, and then naturally disappear into the body without leaving a trace," said Rogers . "In the case reported here, we have built bioabsorbable electronic devices that support a unique function to repair the damage of a peripheral nerve, via electrical stimulation at certain times of the healing process."
The researchers studied rats with injured sciatic nerves. This nerve sends signals up and down the legs and controls the hamstrings and muscles of the lower legs and feet. They used the device to provide one hour a day of electrical stimulation to the rats for one, three, or six days, or even no electrical stimulation, and then monitored their recovery for the next ten weeks. Any electrical stimulation was better than ever to help rats recover muscle mass and strength. In addition, the longer the rats received days of electrical stimulation, the faster and more quickly they recovered nerve signals and muscle strength.
"Before conducting this study, we were not sure that a longer stimulation would make a difference, and now that we know it, we can start trying to find the ideal amount of time to optimize recovery." "said Ray. "If we had administered electrical stimulation for 12 days instead of six, would there have been more therapeutic benefits? Maybe. We are now looking at that."
By changing the composition and thickness of the materials contained in the device, Rogers and his colleagues can control the precise number of days that it takes before it disintegrates. They are now working on creating new versions that can provide electrical impulses for weeks before degrading.
"There really are not any therapeutic options for some of these patients with nerve damage," Ray said. "It's not a therapeutic option yet, because it has not been tested on patients, but I'm excited about this option because it's a new approach to treating peripheral nerve damage, and it could offer a solution. where it does not really exist. " today in the clinical field ".
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