Real-time monitoring of spinal electrical activity in rats for treating spinal cord injury

We are establishing a new bioelectronic spinal implant in rats, to monitor electrical activity around a spinal cord injury and provide sustained regenerative treatments directly to the injury site. The implant will deliver a combination treatment of (I) nerve growth factors to promote regeneration of damaged nerves, and (II) the application of electrical fields to direct nerve outgrowth across the injury site. The standard interface between the recording system and implant (‘head-stage’) is designed for recording anesthetised or restrained animals and is not effective when trying to record from awake rats. This funding from the Maurice and Phyllis Paykel Trust is to purchase several specialized ME2100-µPA-32 head-stages, which will allow us to make noise-free neural recordings from the spinal cord of rats while they freely navigate around a 1 metre diameter open arena. This will greatly enhance our research by providing much more realistic and valuable neural data and allowing us to detect subtle differences in electrical signals that provide early indications that our treatments are working. This will in turn enhance our overall research aims of developing new treatments for spinal cord injury to reduce its impact on individuals, communities, the healthcare system, and New Zealand’s economy.