Biomed Radio - Washington University School Of Medicine In St. Louis

Building on wireless technology that has the potential to interfere with pain, scientists have developed flexible, implantable devices that can activate — and, in theory, block — pain signals in the body and spinal cord before those signals reach the brain. The researchers, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said the implants may one day be used in different parts of the body to fight pain that doesn’t respond to other therapies. TAKING ANOTHER STEP FORWARD IN WIRELESS, OPTOGENETIC TECHNOLOGY, RESEARCHERS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN ST. LOUIS AND ENGINEERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN HAVE DEVELOPED NEW, SOFT, STRETCHABLE AND FULLY IMPLANTABLE DEVICES THAT CAN BE USED NOT ONLY IN THE BRAIN BUT THROUGHOUT THE NERVOUS SYSTEM TO POTENTIALLY BLOCK PAIN SIGNALS USING LIGHT. JIM DRYDEN HAS THE STORY… FOR SEVERAL YEARS, SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN USING LIGHT TO ACTIVATE NERVE CELLS IN LIVING ANIMALS. INITI