Category Archives: Spinal Cord Injury Treatment

Newswise TAMPA, Fla. - March 05, 2013 Researchers at Saneron CCEL Therapeutics, Inc. of Tampa, Florida, (www.saneron-ccel.com) and the University of South Florida have received a patent relating to a method for obtaining and using umbilical cord blood cells from a donor or patient to provide neural cells for transplantation aimed at repairing a variety of neurodegenerative diseases of the brain and spinal cord, such as Parkinsons disease, Huntingtons disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimers disease as well as brain and spinal cord injury. Human umbilical cord blood provides a rich source of hematopoietic (blood) multipotent stem cells that can differentiate and give rise to all of the blood cell types. A single cord blood sample provides enough hematopoietic stem cells to provide short and long-term engraftment with a low incidence of graft-versus-host disease, said Dr. Alison E. Willing, professor, Center of Excellence for Aging and Brain Repair, Department of Neurosurgery, University of South Florida and an inventor on the patent. The object of this newly patented process is a method for isolating and inducing pluripotent stem or progenitor cells into becoming neural or glial cells for use in stem cell transplantation procedures to treat neurodegenerative diseases as well as spinal cord … Continue reading →

Mar. 4, 2013 Oxidative stress turns a protein that normally protects healthy cells into their executioner, according to a study released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal. Alvaro Estevez, an associate professor at the University of Central Florida's College of Medicine, led the multi-university team that made the discovery, which could eventually help scientists develop new therapies to combat a host of conditions from stroke to Lou Gehrig's disease. Researchers have long known that oxidative stress damages cells and results in neurodegeneration, inflammation and aging. It was commonly believed that oxidation made a "crude," demolition-like attack on cells, causing them to crumble like a building in an earthquake, Estevez said. However, the latest findings show that oxidation results in a much more targeted attack to specific parts of the cell. Oxidative stress damages a specific "chaperone" cell protein called Hsp90. It plays a role in up to 200 different cell functions. But when a form of oxidative stress called tyrosine nitration modifies that protein, it turns into the cell "executioner" shutting it down. "The concept that a protein that is normally protective and indispensable for cell survival and growth can turn into a killing machine, … Continue reading →

BALTIMORE, March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --A new study by Kennedy Krieger Institute's International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (Epub ahead of print) finds that long-term lower extremity functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling, as part of a rehabilitation regimen, is associated with substantial improvements in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Improvements include neurological and functional gains, as well as enhanced physical health demonstrated by decreased fat, increased muscle mass and improved lipid profile. Prior to this study's publication today in the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, the benefits of activity-based restorative therapy (ABRT) programs, such as FES cycling, were largely anecdotal despite publicity in conjunction with the recovery of actor and activist Christopher Reeve. To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lower-extremity-functional-electrical-stimulation-cycling-promotes-physical--neurological-recovery-in-chronic-spinal-cord-injury-194974281.html In FES, small electrical pulses are applied to paralyzed muscles to stimulate movement. In the case of FES cycling, FES pulses prompt the legs of an individual with SCI to "cycle" on an adapted stationary recumbent bicycle. The repetitive activity offers cardiovascular exercise similar to that which an able-bodied individual achieves through walking, but this new research shows that the results go far beyond basic health benefits. "Exercise has not been commonly advocated … Continue reading →

Mar. 4, 2013 A new study by Kennedy Krieger Institute's International Center for Spinal Cord Injury (Epub ahead of print) finds that long-term lower extremity functional electrical stimulation (FES) cycling, as part of a rehabilitation regimen, is associated with substantial improvements in individuals with chronic spinal cord injury (SCI). Improvements include neurological and functional gains, as well as enhanced physical health demonstrated by decreased fat, increased muscle mass and improved lipid profile. Prior to this study's publication today in the Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, the benefits of activity-based restorative therapy (ABRT) programs, such as FES cycling, were largely anecdotal despite publicity in conjunction with the recovery of actor and activist Christopher Reeve. In FES, small electrical pulses are applied to paralyzed muscles to stimulate movement. In the case of FES cycling, FES pulses prompt the legs of an individual with SCI to "cycle" on an adapted stationary recumbent bicycle. The repetitive activity offers cardiovascular exercise similar to that which an able-bodied individual achieves through walking, but this new research shows that the results go far beyond basic health benefits. "Exercise has not been commonly advocated for individuals with paralysis because of the assumption that it is of little benefit … Continue reading →

BY Rebecca Levin February 28 - 2013 6:19 PM Anthony Purcell with his mother, Micki Walking: an action that, quite literally, keeps us moving. The task of walking seems quite simple: just put one foot in front of the other, thus becoming mobile. The ability to do so is taken for granted by most. That is, until that ability isn't so simple. It's what happened to Newport Beach resident Anthony Purcell. On a visit to Florida three years ago, then 19-year-old Purcell dove into the ocean, unaware of the dangerous sandbar that made shallow the water below. In an instant, Purcell broke several vertebrae, causing a severe spinal cord injury. The effects of paralysis were immediate as Purcells cousin pulled him out of the water and took him to the hospital, Purcells mother, Micki, close behind. Yet despite the bleak outlook, Micki and the Purcell family refused to give up. Effectively shunning paralysis as the prognosis, this family quickly banded together and began looking for treatment options. But the Purcell family had minimal time to construct a plan before Purcell was released from the hospital. A mere 20 days after his injury, Purcells insurance stopped funding the hospital stay and … Continue reading →

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- InVivo Therapeutics Holdings Corp. (NVIV), a developer of groundbreaking technologies for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCI) and other neurotrauma conditions, today announced the Company has submitted an updated Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting permission to begin human studies in order to test its biopolymer scaffolding for the treatment of acute SCI. The updated IDE submission is in response to exchanges since InVivos April 12, 2012 meeting with the FDA. The filing contains additional information regarding the manufacturing and pre-clinical testing of the scaffolding device. Once approved, the IDE will allow InVivo to conduct an open-label human study to collect safety and efficacy data to support FDA approval of the first in-cord treatment for SCI. The Company is also working with the FDA in order to have the scaffolding device designated as a Humanitarian Use Device (HUD), a designation that InVivo expects will create a faster path to market. We are prepared to safely treat acute SCI patients, and in the coming months we hope to have the first opportunity to translate to humans the positive effect from the scaffold that we observed in our 2008, 2009, and … Continue reading →

Public release date: 26-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ] Contact: Carolann Murphy CMurphy@KesslerFoundation.org 973-324-8382 Kessler Foundation West Orange, NJ. February 26, 2013. Kessler Foundation is participating in the Collaboration on Mobility Training (COMIT), a large study designed to maximize independence among wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI). The COMIT, a SCI Model Systems (SCIMS) Multisite Collaborative Research Project, is funded by the National Institute on Disability & Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR grant #H133A120004). The 5-year, $4.5 million grant was awarded to the lead center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), with Kessler Foundation receiving $850,000 as one of the collaborating sites. All four collaborating sites are participants in the NIDRR-funded SCIMS program, a network of 14 centers that studies the course of recovery and outcomes following the delivery of a coordinated system of care for individuals with SCI. The sites are: Northern New Jersey Spinal Cord Injury System (NNJSCIS) (a cooperative effort of Kessler Foundation, Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation and University of Medicine & Dentristry of NJ); the Midwest Regional Spinal Cord Injury Care System (Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago); and the South Florida SCI System (University of Miami Miller … Continue reading →

Spinal Cord Injury Quadriplegia (C5-C6 level) Treatment and Rehabilitation in Mumbai, India Spinal Cord Injury Treatment and Rehabilitation in Mumbai, India Patient is a C5-C6 quadriplegia since last 4 years with the history of backward jumping in to swimming pool and sustained a fracture of C5 with cord compression. He got operated for decompression with corpectomy followed by fusion anteriorly. Over a period of time he recovered with sensations and motor power of shoulder and elbow muscles. Neurologically, he is hypertonic and hyperreflexic. He has grade 1+ spasticity according to modified Ashworth Scale. He has reduced sensation in left leg by 40% as compared to other area of body. He is on indwelling catheter and has no bladder and bowel motor control. Functionally, he is wheelchair bound and is dependent for almost all his ADL. On ASIA Impairment Scale he scores "C". On FIM he scores 49. After Stem Cell Therapy 1. Overall stamina improved. 2. Lower limb spasticity reduced. 3. Now, he can do arm flexion and extension faster than before. 4. He can do thumb movements, which were not possible before. 5. His sitting balance has improved. Now, he has initiated to sit without support for 2-3 minutes. … Continue reading →

Feb. 24, 2013 Scientists at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) have identified several genes linked to human neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury, in the sea lamprey, a vertebrate fish whose whole-genome sequence is reported this week in the journal Nature Genetics. "This means that we can use the sea lamprey as a powerful model to drive forward our molecular understanding of human neurodegenerative disease and neurological disorders," says Jennifer Morgan of the MBL's Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering. The ultimate goals are to determine what goes wrong with neurons after injury and during disease, and to determine how to correct these deficits in order to restore normal nervous system functions. Unlike humans, the lamprey has an extraordinary capacity to regenerate its nervous system. If a lamprey's spinal cord is severed, it can regenerate the damaged nerve cells and be swimming again in 10-12 weeks. Morgan and her collaborators at MBL, Ona Bloom and Joseph Buxbaum, have been studying the lamprey's recovery from spinal cord injury since 2009. The lamprey has large, identified neurons in its brain and spinal cord, making it an excellent model to study regeneration at the single … Continue reading →

Research and Markets announces the addition of "Neuromodulation Market [Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS), Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS), Gastric Electrical Stimulation (GES), Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), Sacral Nerve Stimulation (SNS), & Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)] Forecasts to 2017" to its catalogue. (PRWEB) February 22, 2013 The neuromodulation technique acts directly upon nerves or the target area where the activity of nerves is altered due to biological responses produced by electrical stimulation or drug infusion. These devices include small electrodes that are attached to the brain, the spinal cord, or peripheral nerves. These precisely placed leads are connected by means of an extension cable to a pulse generator to generate electrical stimulation. Neuromodulation can have applications in any area of the body and can treat several diseases like chronic pain, epilepsy, psychiatric disorder, movement disorder, cardiovascular disorder, genitourinary and colorectal disorder, stroke and brain injury, and gastric disorder. The main drivers for the neuromodulation market are the rising population of aged people and age-related diseases like Alzheimers, epilepsy, spinal cord injury, and Parkinsons disease. According to the International Neuromodulation Society, about 40 million to 50 million patients worldwide suffer from epilepsy, and 1.5 million people currently (2012) suffer from Parkinson disease in … Continue reading →