Implantable device speeds up nerve repair

Scientists have developed an implantable gadget that can help the body repair damaged nerves.

The disc-shaped wireless device, the size of a 5-coin coin, stimulates peripheral nerves with low electrical discharges.

During tests on wounded rats, he accelerated the regrowth of the nerves in the legs, which allowed to recover the muscular strength.

The biodegradable device is designed to dissolve and be completely absorbed by the body after two weeks.

Scientists believe this could help thousands of people with numbness, tingling, and weaknesses from sports injuries, accidents, or even over-typing or texting.

Dr. Wilson Ray, who co-directed the research at the University of Washington in the United States, said, "We know that electrical stimulation during a surgical procedure is helpful, but once the operation completed, the intervention window is closed.

"With this device we have shown that programmed electrical stimulation can further improve nerve recovery."

Unlike their counterparts in the brain and spinal cord, the peripheral nerves that pass through the arms, legs and torso can regenerate after an injury.

Electrical stimulation triggers the release of growth-promoting proteins that help neurons regenerate faster and more completely.

Analgesics, physical therapy and, in extreme cases, surgery are offered to most people with peripheral nerve damage.

The new device, described in the journal Nature Medicine, is wirelessly powered by a transmitter located outside the body.

Professor John Rogers of Northwestern University, Chicago, said, "These platforms represent the earliest examples of a" bioelectronic medicine "- systems designed to provide active therapeutic function in a programmable dosage format, then disappear naturally trace.

"In the case reported here, we have built bioabsorbable electronic devices that support a unique function to repair damage to a peripheral nerve, via electrical stimulation at certain points in the healing process."

Scientists studied rats with injured sciatic nerves, which sent signals up and down the legs and controlled the hamstrings and lower leg and foot muscles.– Press Association