/ News
The Radical Implant That Enables Paralyzed Rats to Walk Again
Scientists at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland recently unveiled a flexible spinal implant called the electronic dura (or e-Dura) that they say may greatly improve spinal injury rehabilitation. In a paper published earlier this month in the journal Science, the EPFL team said because of its flexibility, the next-generation implant lasts longer (up to two months) and causes much less damage than traditional implants.
These latest results continue a line of research into regenerative medicine by EPFL scientists led by Dr. Grégoire Courtine and Dr. Stéphanie P. Lacour. In 2012, this same group published stunning results showing rats with paralyzing spinal cord injuries were able to regain the ability to walk, run, and even climb.
When the spinal cord is severely injured, it results in loss of control over the part of the body below the point of injury.
The EPFL team learned that an injured spinal cord could be reactivated in rats with a specific combination of drugs and electrical stimulation. The drugs, called monoamine agonists, activate the same receptors as neurotransmitters in healthy subjects. Exposing the injured spinal cord to these drugs, along with mild electrical stimulation, activated nerve cells in the spinal column and produced movement in the paralyzed animal.
Early on, the brain still wasn’t communicating with the area below the injured spinal cord, and the movement was involuntary. Over time, however, as the animals (supported by a robotic harness) gained confidence in their ability to walk again, the scientists noted a fourfold growth of new nerves in the spinal cord—the nerve growth eventually restored communication between the brain and the injured area of the spine.
As you can imagine, the researchers were eager to take these findings to the clinic to see if they might have the same success with humans. In preparation for clinical trials, however, they came up against another hurdle—the need for a long-term spinal implant to deliver the chemical and electrical stimulation needed to initiate healing.
They hope e-Dura can satisfy their needs.
The device meets two important criteria for spinal implants: durability and biocompatibility. To reduce the number of surgical procedures that an injured patient needs to undergo, an implantable device needs to last a long time. And it needs to be biocompatible and flexible. Early generation implants caused side effects like inflammation and scar tissue, often negating any positive results the implant provided.
In testing on laboratory animals, the researchers applied the e-Dura implant beneath the protective dura matter, directly on the spinal cord. The implant did not cause any adverse effects and lasted long enough for the paralyzed animals to complete their rehabilitation.
Functionally, the implant also performed very well.
Tiny microfluidic channels embedded on a flexible silicon substrate deliver precise amounts of drugs directly to the nerve cells. Cracked gold conducting wires and electrodes made from a silicon and platinum composite send electrical signals to the injured spinal cord. The implant’s electronics also allow the researchers to monitor the electrical messages sent back and forth to the brain as the new nerves are activated.
Although the research is very exciting, it is yet unclear how well it will work in humans.
It’s possible humans will need different drugs or a different pattern of electrical stimulation to coax the spinal cord into healing itself. There are many unknowns. Advanced clinical trials will hopefully elucidate these nuances so that an appropriate formula can be determined for human applications.
While exoskeleton technology also continues to approach consumer markets, it would be better to give people their natural ability to walk back. However you approach it, those suffering paralysis due to spinal injuries may have more options in the coming years.
To learn more about this incredible research, check out Dr. Courtine’s TED talk from June 2013.
Source: http://singularityhub.com/2015/01/29/the-radical-implant-that-enables-paralyzed-rats-and-maybe-one-day-humans-to-walk-again/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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