Spinal Cord Injury News and Research

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A spinal cord injury usually begins with a sudden, traumatic blow to the spine that fractures or dislocates vertebrae. The damage begins at the moment of injury when displaced bone fragments, disc material, or ligaments bruise or tear into spinal cord tissue. Most injuries to the spinal cord don't completely sever it. Instead, an injury is more likely to cause fractures and compression of the vertebrae, which then crush and destroy the axons, extensions of nerve cells that carry signals up and down the spinal cord between the brain and the rest of the body. An injury to the spinal cord can damage a few, many, or almost all of these axons. Some injuries will allow almost complete recovery. Others will result in complete paralysis.

Acorda presents new analysis of AMPYRA tablets at ECTRIMS Congress

Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that a new analysis of AMPYRA (dalfampridine) Extended Release Tablets, 10 mg data examining walking improvement in treatment responders has been presented at the 26th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS).

15 Oct 2010

'Brain-computer interface' development receives Arizona Biomedical Research Commission grant

Efforts to advance technology to aid people who have lost communication and movement abilities are getting support from an Arizona Biomedical Research Commission grant for a project combining resources and expertise at Arizona State University and the Children's Neuroscience Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital.

14 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 12, 2010

Today's early morning highlights from major news organizations look at a probe of a California hospital chain, the effect that the governors' races around the country will have on the federal health law and a review of prescription purchases that shows more Americans are foregoing their medicines.

12 Oct 2010

Embryonic stem cells used in first trial for spinal cord injury

The first ever patient to receive treatment in a U.S. government approved study involving human embryonic stem cells has been injected with millions of the potentially life saving cells. He is presently being treated at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta. He was partially paralyzed following a spinal cord injury. The center specializes in treating these types of injuries.

11 Oct 2010

Geron commences GRNOPC1 hESC-based cell therapy in patients with spinal cord injury

Geron Corporation today announced the enrollment of the first patient in the company's clinical trial of human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived oligodendrocyte progenitor cells, GRNOPC1. The primary objective of this Phase I study is to assess the safety and tolerability of GRNOPC1 in patients with "complete" American Spinal Injury Association (ASIA) Impairment Scale grade A thoracic spinal cord injuries. Participants in the study must be newly injured and receive GRNOPC1 within 14 days of the injury.

11 Oct 2010

MOH approves BrainStorm's NurOwn stem cell therapy for Phase I/II clinical trial

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. a leading developer of adult stem cell technologies and therapeutics, today announced that the Israeli Ministry of Health (MOH) has granted clearance for a Phase I/II clinical trial using the company's autologous NurOwn stem cell therapy in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as Lou Gehrig's Disease.

11 Oct 2010

FDA designates NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System as HUD device for ALS patients

Synapse Biomedical Inc. announces today that they have received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designation of the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System (DPS) as a Humanitarian Use Device (HUD) for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients with a stimulatable diaphragm who are experiencing chronic hypoventilation and has now submitted for Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) approval.

11 Oct 2010

Mouse study may help develop new therapies for spinal cord injury

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have shown how stem cells, together with other cells, repair damaged tissue in the mouse spinal cord. The results are of potential significance to the development of therapies for spinal cord injury.

8 Oct 2010

StemCells provides update on PMD Phase I clinical trial

StemCells, Inc. today provided an update on its ongoing Phase I clinical trial in Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease (PMD), a fatal myelination disorder that afflicts male children.

8 Oct 2010

Hundreds of experts including Nobel laureates say Medicare's bidding system for durable medical equipment will fail

Medicare's bidding program for durable medical equipment will fail, say 166 leading experts on auctions and competitive bidding systems.

1 Oct 2010

MediciNova receives FDA approval to proceed with initial trial of ibudilast

MediciNova Inc, a biopharmaceutical company publicly traded on the NASDAQ Global Market and the Hercules Market of the Osaka Securities Exchange (Code Number:4875), today reported FDA's approval to proceed with an initial trial of the company's neurological drug candidate, ibudilast (MN-166/AV411), as a potential new pharmacotherapy for methamphetamine addiction.

27 Sep 2010

Northwestern Medicine participates in world's first human embryonic stem cell clinical trial for spinal cord injury

Northwestern Medicine is the first site open for enrollment in a national clinical research trial of a human embryonic stem cell-based therapy for participants with a subacute thoracic spinal cord injury. Following the procedure, participants will receive rehabilitation treatment at The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (RIC).

23 Sep 2010

National Science Foundation awards UofL researcher $500,000 for nervous system study

Michal Hetman, MD, PhD, associate professor and endowed chair in molecular signaling in the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center and the UofL Department of Neurological Surgery, has received a three-year, $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a project that will aim to explain how the nervous system grows and develops.

21 Sep 2010

Zynex to develop central blood volume monitoring device

Zynex, Inc., a provider of pain management systems and electrotherapy products for medical patients with functional disability, announces that its newly formed wholly-owned subsidiary, Zynex Monitoring Solutions Inc., is developing a device for monitoring of central blood volume for use in operating rooms, detecting blood loss during surgery and detecting internal bleeding in the recovery room.

21 Sep 2010

Oxygen Biotherapeutics announces CRADA Agreement amendment

Oxygen Biotherapeutics, Inc. today announced it has amended an existing Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center (NMRC) to include preclinical trials using swine models to assess the safety and efficacy of Oxygen Biotherapeutics' proprietary Oxycyte perfluorocarbon emulsion (PFCE) for spinal cord injury (SCI) due to decompression sickness (DCS), and for hemorrhagic shock.

20 Sep 2010

Study on spinal cord stem cells paves way for post stroke symptom treatment

Neuralstem, Inc. announced that its spinal cord stem cells survived in rat brains affected by stroke and differentiated predominantly into neurons. The transplanted animals showed significant improvement in some motor skill and strength measurements. The study entitled, "Intracerebral Implantation of Adherent Human Neural Stem Cells To Reverse Motor Deficits in Chronic Stroke Rats," was presented earlier today by senior study author, Dr. Shinn-Zong Lin, M.D., Ph.D., at the Stem Cells USA & Regenerative Medicine Conference

15 Sep 2010

XenoPort intends to initiate Phase 3 XP19986 trial for multiple sclerosis

XenoPort, Inc. announced today that it plans to move arbaclofen placarbil (AP), also known as XP19986, into Phase 3 development as a potential treatment of spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

13 Sep 2010

Appeals Court ruled that Feds can temporarily fund stem cell research

The Washington Post: "An appeals court ruled Thursday that the federal government can resume funding human embryonic stem cell research while the court reviews a judge's order that had temporarily prohibited such funding. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted a request from the Justice Department to lift a temporary injunction issued Aug. 23 blocking the funding on the grounds that it violated a law barring funding any research that involves the destruction of human embryos.

10 Sep 2010

Study demonstrates safety of cord blood stem cell transplantation protocol to treat neurological conditions

In a new peer-reviewed article published by the Journal of Translational Medicine, scientists from Beike Biotechnology,China's leading stem cell research and regenerative medicine company, and Medistem, Inc.,reported positive safety data in 114 patients who were treated by doctors at Nanshan Affiliated Hospital of Guangdong Medical College (Shenzhen Nanshan Hospital) in Shenzhen using Beike's proprietary cord blood stem cell transplantation protocol.

3 Sep 2010

Marianjoy Rehabilitation receives grant for dysphagia treatment

The Tellabs Foundation has awarded Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital a grant of $100,000 for the Swallowing & Voice Center; one of seven centers in Marianjoy's Assistive Rehabilitation Technology Institute. The grant will meet a crucial need for Marianjoy to help treat over 1,500 individuals with dysphagia or swallowing difficulties each year.

2 Sep 2010