Implantable Wireless Devices Trigger, and May Block, Pain Signals

Building on wireless technology that has the potential to interfere with pain, scientists have developed flexible, implantable devices that can activate -- and, in theory, block -- pain signals in the body and spinal cord before those signals reach the brain.

The researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said the implants one day may be used in different parts of the body to fight pain that doesn't respond to other therapies.

"Our eventual goal is to use this technology to treat pain in very specific locations by providing a kind of 'switch' to turn off the pain signals long before they reach the brain," said co-senior investigator Robert W. Gereau IV, PhD, the Dr. Seymour and Rose T. Brown Professor of Anesthesiology and director of the Washington University Pain Center.

The study is published online Nov. 9 in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Because the devices are soft and stretchable, they can be implanted into parts of the body that move, Gereau explained. The devices previously developed by the scientists had to be anchored to bone.

"But when we're studying neurons in the spinal cord or in other areas outside of the central nervous system, we need stretchable implants that don't require anchoring,"

he said.

The new devices are held in place with sutures. Like the previous models, they contain microLED lights that can activate specific nerve cells. Gereau said he hopes to use the implants to blunt pain signals in patients who have pain that cannot be managed with standard therapies.

The researchers experimented with mice that were genetically engineered to have light-sensitive proteins on some of their nerve cells. To demonstrate that the implants could influence the pain pathway in nerve cells, the researchers activated a pain response with light. When the mice walked through a specific area in a maze, the implanted devices lit up and caused the mice to feel discomfort. Upon leaving that part of the maze, the devices turned off, and the discomfort dissipated.

As a result, the animals quickly learned to avoid that part of the maze.

The experiment would have been very difficult with older optogenetic devices, which are tethered to a power source and can inhibit the movement of the mice.

Because the new, smaller, devices are flexible and can be held in place with sutures, they also may have potential uses in or around the bladder, stomach, intestines, heart or other organs, according to co-principal investigator John A. Rogers, PhD, professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Illinois.

"They provide unique, biocompatible platforms for wireless delivery of light to virtually any targeted organ in the body," he said.

Rogers and Gereau designed the implants with an eye toward manufacturing processes that would allow for mass production so the devices could be available to other researchers. Gereau, Rogers and Michael R. Bruchas, PhD, associate professor of anesthesiology at Washington University, have launched a company called NeuroLux to aid in that goal.

4 COMMENTS

  1. I like to play Devils advocate some times and this is one of them. This said device is obviously programmed. Who is to say whom ever has control of said device may be able to inflict pain to the implanted party and possibly control the subject via pain. Such a device would be wonderful if the implanted person was the only one with the control of this device. Who knows: what evil lurks in the minds of others.

  2. Would love to be part of a human study. Have back pain from age related degeneration. I do not want surgery as they usually do not stop the pain. Kate.

  3. And I have to add….I am a chronic pain sufferer from my diseases, so I know pain. I am not speaking from a life of no stressors or pain. I do take medicine but I do not take narcotics and I take only enough medicine to reach a point of distractibility, in other words I can take my mind off the pain if I am busy with other things. When I get to the point where it is entering my thoughts constantly or to the point I cannot stay on task, then I will take some medicine. I go to a pain center that uses several methods of pain control and most are not pharmaceutical. I just felt I needed to add that so my other comment did not appear to come from someone who has never had pain.

  4. I think it would be or should be a very limited amount of patients that use this device. Only those situations where all else has failed and no remedy for the pain is available. Why do I say that…well I am a strong believer in experiencing pain…it is a communication from your body. It serves a purpose, it tells you something you may need to do …move away from that hot stove, don’t put that much weight on your knees, don’t bend that way, bones are not flexible, etc. We need to be sure it is not over used and used in situations where damage can occur because the pain signal was not there. I know this sounds paranoid but there are so many stories out there of Drs. or supposed Drs. misusing things/meds/treatments, etc.
    I also have a soap box I keep climbing up on…no one in this world wants to feel pain. Not physically, psychologically, or spiritually, so too many “medicate”….with alcohol, drugs, etc. Rather than addressing the issue at hand they want to turn it off. And this idea starts early on…that is my true soap box speech, we have taught our kids not to feel pain….I have two and three year olds at work who say things like “Mommy my arm hurts I need some medicine”. That is scary…..that young and already wanting to medicate….I am scared for our future.

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