ELECTRONIC SPINE CURES PARALYSIS
One of the greatest bio-engineering innovations of this year is the development of E-Dura, a bio-medical device that according to its inventor, promises to cure spinal cord paralysis caused by injury. Stephanie Locus, the scientist at Ecole Polytechnique Federale De Lausanne (EPFL, Switzerland) and the creator of the implant, E-Dura, is giving people with spinal cord paralysis high hopes of walking again.
The success of this spinal implant relies on the fact is that it can imitate the mechanical properties of the human tissue which, provides a lower risk of rejection or damage to the tissue in the area implanted. The design is flexible and elastic which allows for it to deform with no problem just like human tissue. The implant so far has only been tried on lab rats with paralysis but the results are outstanding as these rats were able to walk on their own after a few weeks of training. During the studies, it has been noticed that- due to the elastic design the implant has- it can last for more than two months without causing damage or irritation on the tissue. The scientists expect to start with clinical trials soon and are positive that E-Dura will work and even function to cure epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and pain management. If the clinical trials prove to be successful, around 250,000 people with spinal cord living in the United States can benefit from it |