PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Device study offers hopes for spinal cord injuries

An implantable electronic device has restored movement following spinal cord injury in an animal study.

2025-06-27
(Press-News.org) Spinal cord injuries are currently incurable with devastating effects on people’s lives, but now a trial at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland offers hope for an effective treatment.

Spinal cord injuries shatter the signal between the brain and body, often resulting in a loss of function.“Unlike a cut on the skin, which typically heals on its own, the spinal cord does not regenerate effectively, making these injuries devastating and currently incurable,” says lead researcher Dr Bruce Harland, a senior research fellow in the School of Pharmacy at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

Before birth, and to a lesser extent afterwards, naturally occurring electric fields play a vital role in early nervous system development, encouraging and guiding the growth of nerve tissue along the spinal cord. Scientists are now harnessing this same electrical guidance system in the lab.An implantable electronic device has restored movement following spinal cord injury in an animal study, raising hopes for an effective treatment for humans and even their pets.

“We developed an ultra-thin implant designed to sit directly on the spinal cord, precisely positioned over the injury site in rats,” Dr Harland says.

The device delivers a carefully controlled electrical current across the injury site. “The aim is to stimulate healing so people can recover functions lost through spinal-cord injury,” Professor Darren Svirskis, director of the CatWalk Cure Programme at the University’s School of Pharmacy says.

Unlike humans, rats have a greater capacity for spontaneous recovery after spinal cord injury, which allowed researchers to compare natural healing with healing supported by electrical stimulation.

After four weeks, animals that received daily electric field treatment showed improved movement compared with those who did not.

Throughout the 12-week study, they responded more quickly to gentle touch.

“This indicates that the treatment supported recovery of both movement and sensation,” Harland says. “Just as importantly, our analysis confirmed that the treatment did not cause inflammation or other damage to the spinal cord, demonstrating that it was not only effective but also safe.”

This new study, published in a leading journal, has come out of a partnership between the University of Auckland and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden. See Nature Communications.

“Long term, the goal is to transform this technology into a medical device that could benefit people living with these life-changing spinal-cord injuries,” says Professor Maria Asplund of Chalmers University of Technology.

“This study offers an exciting proof of concept showing that electric field treatment can support recovery after spinal cord injury,” says doctoral student Lukas Matter, also from Chalmers University.

The next step is to explore how different doses, including the strength, frequency, and duration of the treatment, affect recovery, to discover the most effective recipe for spinal-cord repair.

Read the study. Find out about animal-based research at the University of Auckland. Media contacts

Dr Bruce Harland, senior research fellow School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences (in China)
M: 027 3119008
E: bruce.harland@auckland.ac.nz

Professor Darren Svirskis, director of the CatWalk Cure Programme in the School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
M: 021 109 3314
E: d.svirskis@auckland.ac.nz

Prof Maria Asplund, Professor at the Department of Microtechnology and Nanoscience, Chalmers University of Technology
M: 0046-760 097 408
E: maria.asplund@chalmers.se

FMHS media adviser Jodi Yeats
M: 027 202 6372
E: jodi.yeats@auckland.ac.nz

 

 

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

How urea forms spontaneously

2025-06-27
Urea is one of the most important industrial chemicals produced worldwide. It is used as a fertiliser, for the production of synthetic resins and explosives and as a fuel additive for cleaning car exhaust gases. Urea is also believed to be a potential key building block for the formation of biological molecules such as RNA and DNA in connection with the question of the origin of life (see ETH News from 28 June 2023). Until now, the origin of urea itself on Early Earth has not been conclusively clarified. A research team led by Ruth Signorell, Professor of Physical Chemistry ...

Mayo Clinic’s AI tool identifies 9 dementia types, including Alzheimer’s, with one scan

2025-06-27
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool that helps clinicians identify brain activity patterns linked to nine types of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, using a single, widely available scan — a transformative advance in early, accurate diagnosis.  The tool, StateViewer, helped researchers identify the dementia type in 88% of cases, according to research published online on June 27, 2025, in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. It also enabled clinicians to interpret brain scans ...

Gene therapy improves blood flow in the brain in patients with sickle cell disease

2025-06-27
(MEMPHIS, Tenn. – June 27, 2025) Gene therapy for sickle cell disease may help improve a major contributing factor to stroke risk in patients, reports a new study from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Many people with sickle cell disease experience increased brain ischemia, where oxygen is not delivered properly to brain tissues, potentially leading to strokes. A part of the risk for these events comes from increased blood flow speed in the brain. Findings from three patients in a gene therapy clinical trial showed ...

Building breast tissue in the lab to better understand lactation

2025-06-27
Human breast milk is uniquely adapted to meet an infant’s nutritional needs. Surprisingly, we still know very little about how milk is even made in the breast. A team of ETH Zurich researchers led by Marcy Zenobi-Wong, Professor of Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication, want to change that. In the lab, Zenobi-Wong and her team developed tiny replicas of lactating breast tissue. This involved isolating cells from human breast milk that are naturally found in milk. Some of the cells from lactating breast tissue and the so-called lactocytes – the cells in breast tissue that produce milk – end up in ...

How gut bacteria change after exposure to pesticides

2025-06-27
COLUMBUS, Ohio – While emerging evidence suggests pesticides can be toxic to the mix of microorganisms in the digestive system, a new study is the first to map changes to specific gut bacteria based on interactions between human microbes and insect-killing chemicals observed in the lab and an animal model. The analysis showed that over a dozen pesticides influence human gut bacteria growth patterns, affect how gut microorganisms process nutrients and camp out inside some bacteria. Researchers say the resulting “atlas” ...

Timepoint at which developing B-cells become cancerous impacts leukemia treatment

2025-06-27
New findings show that the stage of normal cell development at which B cells transform into leukemic cells impacts treatment outcomes for pediatric patients with B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL). Scientists at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and University Health Network’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, developed a robust single-cell reference atlas of normal human B-cell development and cross-referenced single-cell B-ALL data with it, as well as outcomes data. The study, ...

Roberto Morandotti wins prestigious IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award 

2025-06-27
Roberto Morandotti Wins Prestigious IEEE Photonics Society Quantum Electronics Award    Congratulations to Professor Roberto Morandotti, the first researcher at INRS to receive this prestigious award in the field of quantum electronics    VARENNES, QC, June 27, 2025 – Professor Roberto Morandotti, a globally recognized leader in quantum optics and photonics at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS), has won the 2025 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Photonic Society Quantum Electronics Award. This award pays ...

New urine-based tumor DNA test may help personalize bladder cancer treatment

2025-06-27
In a multi-institutional study published in Science Direct, researchers revealed that testing urine-based tumor DNA (utDNA) can help predict which bladder cancer patients are at higher risk for recurrence after treatment. This study analyzed utDNA from patients in the SWOG S1605 trial, who were treated with atezolizumab, an immunotherapy drug. Researchers used the UroAmp test to examine urine samples from 89 patients at the start of treatment and from 77 patients three months later. The goal was to see if utDNA could help identify which bladder cancer patients are most likely to respond to immunotherapy.  “This approach could help improve patient ...

How a faulty transport protein in the brain can trigger severe epilepsy

2025-06-27
Citrate is essential for the metabolism and development of neurons. A membrane transport protein called SLC13A5 plays a central role in this process and has previously been linked to a particularly severe form of epileptic encephalopathy. Building on data from the recently completed RESOLUTE and REsolution flagship projects, scientists at CeMM have comprehensively studied the function and structure of the membrane transporter SLC13A5, experimentally investigating 38 mutant variants. Their findings, published in Science Advances (DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adx3011) shed new light on the mechanisms of this disease and lay the ...

Study reveals uneven land sinking across New Orleans, raising flood-risk concerns

2025-06-27
Parts of New Orleans and its surrounding wetlands are gradually sinking, and while most of the city remains stable, a new study from Tulane University researchers suggests that sections of the region’s $15 billion post-Katrina flood protection system may need regular upgrades to outpace long-term land subsidence. The study, published in Science Advances, used satellite radar data to track subtle shifts in ground elevation across Greater New Orleans between 2002 and 2020. The study found that some neighborhoods, wetlands and even sections of floodwalls are sinking by more than an inch per year — with some ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Global study reveals how bacteria shape the health of lakes and reservoirs

Biochar reimagined: Scientists unlock record-breaking strength in wood-derived carbon

Synthesis of seven quebracho indole alkaloids using "antenna ligands" in 7-10 steps, including three first-ever asymmetric syntheses

BioOne and Max Planck Society sign 3-year agreement to include subscribe to open pilot

How the arts and science can jointly protect nature

Student's unexpected rise as a researcher leads to critical new insights into HPV

Ominous false alarm in the kidney

MSK Research Highlights, October 31, 2025

Lisbon to host world’s largest conference on ecosystem restoration in 2027, led by researcher from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon

Electrocatalysis with dual functionality – an overview

Scripps Research awarded $6.9 million by NIH to crack the code of lasting HIV vaccine protection

New post-hoc analysis shows patients whose clinicians had access to GeneSight results for depression treatment are more likely to feel better sooner

First transplant in pigs of modified porcine kidneys with human renal organoids

Reinforcement learning and blockchain: new strategies to secure the Internet of Medical Things

Autograph: A higher-accuracy and faster framework for compute-intensive programs

Expansion microscopy helps chart the planktonic universe

Small bat hunts like lions – only better

As Medicaid work requirements loom, U-M study finds links between coverage, better health and higher employment

Manifestations of structural racism and inequities in cardiovascular health across US neighborhoods

Prescribing trends of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonists for type 2 diabetes or obesity

Continuous glucose monitoring frequency and glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes

Bimodal tactile tomography with bayesian sequential palpation for intracavitary microstructure profiling and segmentation

IEEE study reviews novel photonics breakthroughs of 2024

New method for intentional control of bionic prostheses

Obesity treatment risks becoming a ‘two-tier system’, researchers warn

Researchers discuss gaps, obstacles and solutions for contraception

Disrupted connectivity of the brainstem ascending reticular activating system nuclei-left parahippocampal gyrus could reveal mechanisms of delirium following basal ganglia intracerebral hemorrhage

Federated metadata-constrained iRadonMAP framework with mutual learning for all-in-one computed tomography imaging

‘Frazzled’ fruit flies help unravel how neural circuits stay wired

Improving care for life-threatening blood clots

[Press-News.org] Device study offers hopes for spinal cord injuries
An implantable electronic device has restored movement following spinal cord injury in an animal study.