Self-healing implants on their way

ElectRx is blurring the line between reality and science fiction by exploring the process where in the human body can heal itself

Our body's peripheral nervous system is in charge of monitoring the status of internal organs and helps with the regulating of biological responses to infection, injury or anything else that may be seen as unwanted by us.

This brings up the possibility that many medical conditions that are difficult to deal with right now could be managed more effectively if we could precisely modulate the peripheral nervous system. This is exactly what DARPA or Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the United States government is working on with their Electrical Prescriptions (ElectRx) program which has the full support of United States president Barrack Obama.

“The technology DARPA plans to develop through the ElectRx program could fundamentally change the manner in which doctors diagnose, monitor and treat injury and illness,” said Doug Weber, DARPA program manager. “Instead of relying only on medication—we envision a closed-loop system that would work in concept like a tiny, intelligent pacemaker. It would continually assess conditions and provide stimulus patterns tailored to help maintain healthy organ function, helping patients get healthy and stay healthy using their body’s own systems.”

Started in support of Obama’s brain initiative, ElectRx which is pronounced “electrics” was created with the objective of creating new technology which will modulate nerve circuits and maintain human health.

It is also expected that with this project there should be a gain in understanding when it comes to specific neural circuits and thier role especially when those circuits are involved in things like the immune system. The knowledge to be gained can also help improve peripheral nerve stimulation treatments for brain disorders, such as epilepsy, traumatic brain injury (TBI), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and depression.

If DARPA is to achieve its goals for the program, innovative technologies for in vivo sensing and neural stimulation, including advanced biosensors and novel optical, acoustic and electromagnetic devices to achieve precise targeting of individual or small bundles of nerve fibers that control relevant organ functions will need to be developed.

Although implats for things like management of chronic inflammatory diseases and other disorders are already circling the medical world, and the market for neuromodulation devices is in a position of constant growth, they are chunky and usually require surgery that brings this whole range of side effects. The technology DARPA is aiming for will most likely be based on nanotechnology creating devices approximately the same size as individual nerve fibers, which would require only minimally invasive insertion procedures such as injectable delivery through a needle.

ElectRx is not an isolated project but is a part of a broader portfolio of programs within DARPA that support President Obama’s brain initiative.

These programs have been developed for the purpose of advancing the fundamental understanding of the brain’s dynamics to drive applications (Revolutionizing Prosthetics, Restorative Encoding Memory Integration Neural Device, Reorganization and Plasticity to Accelerate Injury Recovery, Enabling Stress Resistance), manufacture robust sensing systems for neurotechnology applications (Reliable Neutral Interface Technology) and analyze large data sets (Detection and Computational Analysis of Psychological Signals).