According to the\u00a0World Health Organisation, up to half a million people around the world suffer a spinal cord injury each year. Often caused by road traffic crashes, accidents or violence, the loss of motor control or paralysis significantly impacts quality of life and requires years of treatment and care. Spinal cord injury is also associated with lower rates of school enrolment and economic participation, and carries substantial individual and societal costs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Current methods for spinal cord injury\ntreatment involve cumbersome brain-machine interfaces, with many cables linking\nthe patient and a computer to restore limited motor functions. Other methods to\nmap brain activity, such as magnetoencephalography, require very large\nmachinery and particularly low-temperature working conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To improve the quality of life of those suffering a spinal cord injury,\u00a0ByAxon\u00a0\u2013 an EU project funded by the\u00a0Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)\u00a0programme \u2013 is bringing together a consortium of researchers from across Europe (Spain, Italy, France and Germany) to devise a new generation of spinal cord treatments. The four-year project started in January 2017 and is seeking to create implants that restore sensory functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Project Co-coordinator Dr Teresa Gonz\u00e1lez from\u00a0IMDEA\u00a0says they are focusing on recovering sensitive functions. \u201cWe want signals that start from the extremities go back to the brain. This is very important since it has been shown that therapies focused on recovering the sensitive part as soon as possible are usually more successful in recovering also the motor part.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new nanotechnology implants called\n\u2018nanowire-coate electrodes\u2019 can act as a neural interface coupled with sensors\nable to read the magnetic signals of neurons. Special nanomaterials used in\nconjunction with the nanoelectrodes, such as carbon nanotubes, would also serve\nas a supportive framework for nerves cells, enabling them to pass signals over\nthe spinal cord injury, effectively creating an active bypass. The nanotubes or\n\u2018neuronal prosthetics\u2019 could promote neuroplasticity processes and, as a final\ngoal, contribute to the restoration of neural activity in the spinal cord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If successful, ByAxon could have a huge\nmedical and social impact in the long term. Not only would it enable sufferers\nof spinal cord injuries to regain sensory functions, but the technology could\nalso serve as a basis for a new applications. Advanced neural interfaces with\nutility in retinal implants, brain-recording systems for patients with\nepilepsy, and deep brain stimulation devices for Parkinson disease could all\nbenefit from the project\u2019s research. The new sensors could be used beyond\nmedical applications in a variety of everyday brain-machine interfaces that,\nfor example through wireless communication, can be used to control computers,\ndrones or robots using thought alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n