How UT Dallas researchers are helping patients with spinal injuries to recover their lives

With a tablet supported in front of him and a Joystick device in his hand, Marshall Bell seems to play a video game. But it is actually physiotherapy, driven by the innovative technology developed by Texas that is changing its life.

“I can officially shampoo my hair with my injured arm,” said Bell, 35, from Arlington, with a smile. “It can take time, but I am ecstatic to be able to touch my …” he said, moving his hand towards the head to demonstrate.

Life changed by hitting and running

In 2016, Bell was hit by a car while walking along a Fort Worth Street. The driver did not stop. Bell stayed with a partially cut backbone and a devastating forecast.

“It was called Dr. Gundy,” Bell said. “He came to my father to the room and said: ‘You need to make arrangements for your son. You may not be able to do anything again on your own.”

At that time, Bell could only move his index finger. But he was determined to recover. Over time, he recovered the ability to walk, but wanted more.

Ut dallas leads the progress

Bell joined an innovative study led by researchers from the University of Texas in Dallas. The study focuses on a small implantable device that stimulates the vagus nerve during physiotherapy.

“That is the device,” said Robert Rennaker, Ph.D., a retired sailor converted into a professor and inventor of neuroscience. “It’s just a small circuit plate inside a glass.”

Small device, great results

The device is implanted through a small incision in the neck and tied to a nerve. It does not require batteries, it is a magnetic resonance and is loaded externally with a device that resembles the headphones.

“I can’t feel it at all,” said Bell. “In the test tests, I thought I had the placebo. Then they pressed it and felt the shock. I thought, ‘Oh, okay, that’s there!'”

Rewarding the effort of the brain

During therapy, the device stimulates the vagus nerve to reward successful movements.

“I always tell people, I like playing golf. I hit the ball well and I’m like, yes!” Rennaker said. “We are doing that, but we are doing it artificially.”

“It is not exciting to learn how to collect a cup or put a arete,” said Jane Wigginton, MD, medical director of the Texas Biomedical Devices Center in UT Dallas. “So we give that same little zap to the vagus nerve that releases those same chemicals. That path is accumulated so that it is easier and easier.”

Hope of long -term injury

Wigginton said the study has shown unprecedented recovery rates for spinal cord injuries, regardless of how long it has passed.

She cited examples like Hal, which can now point and write 40 years after her injury, and Amanda, which can now put earrings alone.

“In my mind, it’s like a miracle,” said Wigginton.

Years of research are worth it

The research is based on more than a decade of neuroscience and bioengineering work in UT Dallas. Previous studies showed that the stimulation of the vagus nerve during the therapy could requesate the brain after a stroke. Now, the same approach is to help patients with spinal cord injuries to progress once thought is impossible.

“I can officially dress completely,” Bell said. “And now I can open Mason’s jars! They are little things.”

Texas at the forefront

The Texas Communities Foundation financed the initial production of the implantable devices. Researchers continue to collect and carry out clinical trials while making the complete approval of the FDA, which they hope to achieve in the next three or four years.

“It will make the north of Texas the center of the universe in this type of research,” said Wigginton. “It will absolutely do it. It’s so great.”

The objective, researchers say, is to help patients recover their lives.

“I would say he is dead in what this is doing,” said Bell.

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