Speakers

Spinal cord stimulation for improvement of CNS injury
1110 11:10-11:20
Functional Neurosurgery & Epilepsy/304A
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been designed more than 50 years ago to treat patients’ neuropathic pain evolving from CNS injury. Since then, the advancement of hardware and evolution of electrical engineering has made application of SCS reach to a new stage. Spinal cord injury (SCI) usually leads to disconnection between traversing neuronal pathway. The impairment of neural circuitry and its ascending and descending pathway usually leave severe SCI patients with both motor disability and loss of sensory function. In addition to poor quality of life, SCI patients not only have disabling respiratory function, urinary retention, impaired sexual function, autonomic dysregulation but also medical refractory neuropathic pain in the long term. Some translational studies demonstrated that spinal networks possess a dynamic state of synaptic connection and excitability that can be facilitated by epidural SCS. In addition, preliminary human studies also confirmed that SCS enables stepping or standing in individuals with paraplegia as well. During the talk, I will share these results from human and animal studies. One recent study successfully demonstrates the feasible use of brain-spine interface to facilitate walking in a patient with incomplete spinal cord injury. Based upon similar acting mechanism, SCS also was shown to improve upper limbs paralysis and resume functional movement of arms in patients with stroke. These progresses and advancement not only lead us into a new hope to help patients with CNS injury to regain their pride and independent life again but also empower neurosurgeons to step into the field of brain-machine interface or brain-spine interface.

Stem cells for spinal cord injury
1109 13:45-13:55
Spine/304A
The advancement of stem cells therapy may be helpful for neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s disease, motor neuron disease and dementia) or acute central nervous system (CNS) injury, such as spinal cord injury. I will talk about the devastating spinal cord injury (SCI) disease. The impairment of neural circuitry and its ascending and descending pathway usually leave severe SCI patients with both motor disability and loss of sensory function. Some translational studies demonstrated that spinal networks possess a dynamic state of synaptic connection and excitability that can be facilitated by neurogenesis with stem cells implantation and epidural spinal cord stimulation. I will share some SCI patients improved after stem cell treatment and epidural spinal cord stimulation. Furthermore, the underlying mechanisms will be discussed. These breakthroughs lead us into a new hope to help SCI patients to walk and regain their pride and independent life again.