Using a flexible ‘sutrode’ – a combination of suture and electrode – a group of researchers has advanced a way to treat spleen conditions by applying only electrical current.
Electroceuticals, where electrical stimulation is used to modify biological functions, could minimally invasively treat medical conditions and result in few side effects.
The work, which appears in the Nature Journal of Communications Biology, builds on previous studies when the team introduced the sutrode to the world just over a year ago. This graphene-based electrode is an electrical stimulation device that could replace the use of pharmaceuticals to treat a range of medical conditions. The sutrode, created using a technique called fibre wet spinning, has an electrode’s electrical properties and a suture’s mechanical properties.
“The flexibility and superb sensitivity of the sutrode is allowing us to expand our understanding of how the nervous system controls main body organs, a critical step towards developing advanced therapies in bioelectronic medicines,” reported the study leader, Professor Romero-Ortega. “Our collaborative work uncovered that the spleen is controlled by different terminal nerves, and that the sutrode can be used to control them, increasing the precision in which the function of this organ can be modulated.”
Paper co-author professor Gordon Wallace said the sutrode can be integrated with delicate neural systems to monitor neural activity.
“This work has widespread implications for regulating the function of the spleen, particularly the efficient regulation of the immune response for electroceutical treatment of range of diseases,” said Prof Wallace. “We have highlighted the ongoing need to develop systems with increased fidelity and spatial resolution. This will not only bring practical applications to the forefront but will enable the unattainable exploration of the human neural system.”
The work also reveals the ability to simultaneously interrogate the four individual neural inputs into the spleen. This new technical and biological achievement will not only bring about practical applications, but also enable a previously unattainable exploration of the human neural system.
Source: University of Houston
