Stimulating electrical activity in nerves also known as “bioelectronic medicine” has the possibility to offer new treatment options for diverse diseases and conditions such as hypertension, heart failure, gastrointestinal disorders, and more.
Bioelectronic medicine uses device technology to read and modulate the electrical activity within the body’s nervous system to open new doors to real time diagnostics and treatment options for patients.
To work on the bioelectronic medicine program, NIH’s Common Fund’s “Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions” (SPARC) program has developed new tools and technologies.
Researchers have also mapped connections among a variety of different nerves and organ systems and created the SPARC Portal https://sparc.science to provide scientists with cutting edge information and tools to use to advance bioelectronic medicine.
In stage two of the program, SPARC is going to focus on the anatomy and functional connectivity of the human Vagus nerve. The goal is to build neuromodulation device components by challenging the innovator community to provide new capabilities. SPARC will then be able to help innovators develop new best in class bioelectronic medicine therapies.
To help in a project using bioelectronic implants for vision restoration, a public workshop co-sponsored by FDA http://www.fda.gov and the University of Pittsburgh https://www.pitt.edu was held in October 2022 to discuss the challenges and the development of bioelectronic implants for vision restoration. One approach to treating those with profound vision loss is to use bioelectronic implants such as retinal and cortical implants.