Medical Moment: Injectrode offers new non-invasive solution for diseases

(WNDU) - Neuro-modulation therapies involved medical devices that can treat several chronic conditions such as epilepsy, nerve pain and even a-fib.

Many of these conditions require surgery to treat, which can be costly and invasive. However, medical professionals have found a way to inject a device, instead of implanting one.

Pacemakers, spinal cord stimulators, and deep brain stimulators are all devices that require tiny electrodes to either be implanted in the brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves to deliver electrical stimulation for medical treatment.

“That’s essentially like taking your cell phone and sticking it in the body,” Dr. Kip Ludwig, Associate Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, said. “And unfortunately, that is both very costly, but also has to last in the body for 30 years.”

When those devices fail another surgery will be needed. That’s why researchers are looking at an alternative where clinicians would be able to inject an electrode without the need for surgery. It’s called an Injectrode.

“This kind of electrically conductive goo, as we call it, could be injected into the body and it would form a conductive, an electrically conductive interface with nerve tissue,” Andrew Shoffstal, PhD Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University, said.

“So instead of having a complex computer in the body that has to last 30 years, we actually make a connection from the surface of the skin to a deep nerve so we can talk to it with a non-invasive device,” Ludwig continued.

This means no surgery, fewer complications and failures, as well as lower costs.

The researchers conducted a trial where the Injectrode was implanted for 30 days in patients and found the Injectrode was able to communicate with the nervous system for the full time period with no adverse effects.

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