How does electrical stimulation modulate electrophysiological environment after spinal cord injury?

Date: Nov-08-2013An injury potential is the direct current potential difference between the site of spinal cord injury and healthy nerves. Its initial amplitude is a significant indicator of the severity of spinal cord injury.

This injury potential, as well as injury current, can be modulated by direct current field stimulation; however, the appropriate parameters of the electrical field are hard to define.

Dr. Guanghao Zhang and colleagues from Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China found that electrical stimulation using a reversed electrical field polarity can effectively modulate the injury potential and benefits the spontaneous repair of the cell membrane in rats with spinal cord injury.

Taking the injury potential value as the parameter of the electrical stimulator, a method for defining the stimulation intensity is proposed, thus promoting the application of electrical stimulation in spinal cord injury.

These results were published in Neural Regeneration Research (Vol. 8, No. 27, 2013).

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.