What you should know:
1. The university is developing the device through a partnership with Providence-based Rhode Island Hospital, Intel Corp., and Micro Leads Medical.
2. The device can record signals from and stimulate areas below and above a spinal cord injury. The device records signals traveling down the spinal cord, which are then sent to a computer interface that decodes them. The device then creates a signal to stimulate the area around the spinal cord injury.
3. Neurosurgeon Jared Fridley, MD, said the device’s bi-directional nature bypasses the injury site. By stimulating the areas below and above a spinal injury, a patient’s brain can still receive sensory information from their other extremities.
4. Researchers currently have no plans to use the device in a clinical setting, but hope data gathered from its development can be used in future therapeutic devices for patients.
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