Brown University researchers, surgeons from Rhode Island Hospital and private partners will develop and test a device aimed at bridging the gap in neural circuitry created by spinal cord injury, in the hope of restoring muscle control and sensation.
Brown University researchers, surgeons from Rhode Island Hospital and private partners will develop and test a device aimed at bridging the gap in neural circuitry created by spinal cord injury, in the hope of restoring muscle control and sensation.
Supported with a new grant of $6.3 million from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), a team led by Brown University researchers will develop and test an “intelligent spinal interface” aimed at helping to restore limb movement and bladder control for people who have suffered spinal cord injuries.
Developed in collaboration with physicians at Rhode Island Hospital, a Lifespan partner, along with commercial partners at Intel and Micro-Leads Medical, the experimental spinal interface will be designed to bridge the gap in neural circuitry created by a spinal injury, the researchers say. The idea is to record signals traveling down the spinal cord above an injury site and use them to drive electrical spinal stimulation below the lesion. At the same time, information coming up the cord from below will be used to drive stimulation above the injury. The device could potentially help to restore both volitional control of limbs muscles as well as feeling and sensation lost due to injury.
Read more at: Brown University
