4 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this study is to compare transcutaneous electrical spinal stimulation (TESS) and epidural electrical stimulation (EES); in particular, the motor activity enabled by each method and the potential health benefits of each method.
This study will evaluate a method to optimize parameter settings in epidural spinal cord stimulation used to recover lower extremity volitional movement. The study will also characterize improvement in autonomic function (such as blood pressure control) and other functions related to spinal cord injury.
Patients and families are invited to participate in an online registry and data repository specifically for patients with transverse myelitis (TM) or acute flaccid myelitis (AFM). The data generated in this study will come from surveys, interviews, review of medical records. Data from this study will be utilized to guide future clinical trials for children with an acute case of TM or AFM. Parents and school aged children will complete an online survey 7 banks of questions. Each bundle of survey topics have 7-10 questions. We will have both the parent and child complete a outcomes based survey within 6 months of diagnosis and invite to participate every 4 months until study end in 2024.
Autologous Incubated Macrophages (ProCord) is being developed as a therapy for acute, complete spinal cord injury (SCI). The therapy is intended to reverse the loss of motor and sensory function. Following non-CNS tissue injury, macrophages quickly arrive on the scene, where they clean up cell debris, secrete different molecules thus promoting a controlled inflammatory reaction that forms the first phase of the wound healing process. While this process occurs in most tissues, including peripheral nerves, it does not occur in the CNS, where macrophages and other immune cells are relatively rare, and their activities curtailed by a biochemical mechanism known as "immune privilege." In animal studies, it appears that incubated macrophages circumvent the immune privilege, thus supporting the regrowth of axons through the injury site and enabling the recovery of neurological function. The concept derives from the pioneering research of Prof. Michal Schwartz at the Weizmann Institute of Science.