Spinal Cord Injuries (SCI) affects 337,000 Americans with serious SCIs as they often face lifelong paralysis and increased long term morbidity due to factors such as sepsis and autonomic nervous system dysfunction.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) https://www.darpa.mil Bridging the Gap Plus (BG+) program, aims to develop new approaches to treat SCIs by integrating injury stabilization, regenerative therapy, and provide for functional restoration.
In November 2020, DARPA, awarded contracts to the University of California-Davis, https://ucdavis.edu University of Pittsburgh https://www.pitt.edu, and Johns Hopkins University https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org to advance new approaches to treat SCIs. Multidisciplinary teams at each university are tasked with developing systems of implantable adaptive devices that aim to reduce injury effects during early phases of SCIs and potentially be able to restore function during the later chronic phase.
The University of California Davis team will develop new treatment approaches for early SCI stages that includes developing a hemodynamic control system and neural stem cells within a novel 3D printed biomimetic biodegradable scaffold.
The team at the University of Pittsburgh will work on an implantable integrated device that can be wirelessly controlled and wirelessly charged to restore bladder, bowel, and sexual function in SCI patients with chronic conditions.
The Johns Hopkins Neurosurgeons and Biomedical Team are working to develop implantable ultrasound and other devices that could revolutionize care for people with SCIs. Under development is an electronic device that will be the size and flexibility of a small Band-Aid ™. The device will use high resolution ultrasound technology to enable doctors to monitor and treat changes in blood flow in order to prevent tissue death occurring immediately after a traumatic SCI.
First, the researchers will target the disruption in blood flow that occurs alongside the injury to the spinal cord. They will then utilize technology to image and stimulate the blood vessels and tissue at the site of the SCI as well as control spinal fluid dynamics to enable the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to be optimized. This approach, could possibly prevent additional damage to the spinal cord which can lead to increased inflammation, pain, and worsening paralysis
Electronic devices will use ultrasound “pulse echoes” which are similar to the radar that submarines use to navigate. They will use electrical stimulation to monitor and treat the previously unobservable tiny blood vessels and surrounding tissue around the spinal cord injury site.
Capturing clear ultrasound images of the spinal cord microvasculature, will give clinicians not only the ability to observe how blood is flowing to the injury site, but also provide valuable information on how much oxygen, nutrients, and medications are reaching the area.