FMR believes the practical application of scientific knowledge should allow for more advanced clinical practice in medical centres around the world today.
Actual repair of the central nervous system will happen through further biological advances, such as stem cell transplantation and genetic decoding, but for these
to be effective we need to pave the way.
Movement recovery
Every human movement, whether intentional, purposeful, automatic, or a reflex movement in response to a sudden change in the environment of the human body, involves muscles and their corresponding nerves and spinal cord pathways. Brain motor control is involved in standing, walking, moving the human body within any space, controlling arm and hand movements, writing, eating, driving a car, or controlling tools and devices.
If the nerves, the spinal cord or the brain structures are injured or diseased, all of these varieties and flexibilities of movement can become absent, leading to complete or partial paralysis. Persons suffering from this become dependent on assistance from other healthy people in order to complete their daily activities.
There are numerous ongoing research programs that focus on experimental animal
work to advance the science of restoration and on the repair of the impaired movement function. Few of these emphasize human science and possible clinical applications. FMR would like to see that the experiences from the animal experiments and improvements in molecular biology lead to advancement in human neurosciences and corresponding improvements in clinical practice for the paralysed population.
International perspective and network building
In September 2006, FMR sponsored an international meeting on spinal cord motor
control in Ljubljana (Slovenia) with scientists from all over the world as participants.
The presentations held at the symposium covered the following subjects:
- How to translate experimental knowledge into locomotion for wheelchair bound individuals (S. Grillner)
- The availability of intra-operative and percutaneous neurophysiological methods for the testing of the functional integrity of the long ascending and descending axons within the injury zone of the spinal cord injury (V. Deletis)
- Locomotor training of spinal cord injury in the people with impaired gaits; today’s clinical method with recognized limits and potentials (S. J. Harkema, K. Tansey)
- How locomotor training can be supported by successful induction of stepping and standing movement in people with a complete spinal cord injury (K. Minassian, I. Persey, F. Rattay)
- Reports on experimental biological therapy (U. Slawinska, S. Kawaguchi)
The symposium was also a step towards establishing an international network of renowned scientists involved in both animal and human neurosciences. This network includes scientific communities from Vienna, Los Angeles, Houston, Taiwan etc.
The main conclusion from the symposium was that there is definitive proof that it’s
possible to bridge the gap between animal model studies and human clinical trials when human neurosciences are applied in parallel with experimental science models.
FMR’s scientific program
Based on the results from the symposium in Ljubljana FMR has established
a scientific program for recovery of motor functions in the injured human
spinal cord.
The program contains the following main topics:
- Neuromonitoring of acute spinal cord injury (2007 – 2011)
Prevention of further injury
Assessment of potential for movement
Intervention through electrical stimulation
This will be a four year project with centres in various countries. - Protocol for biological repair – summer school (2008)
Neurophysiological methods for patient selections for biological therapy
Monitoring of effect of the implanted tissue
Functional integration of implanted and existing tissues
- Symposium on modality intervention (2009)
Evaluation of available treatments
Physical, neurophysiological, pharmacological, and neurobiological modalities applied for improvement of movements after spinal cord injury
How these work independently and how they can work better in combination
- Design of protocols for neuro-rehabilitation (2010)
Advancement in treatments will result in new kinds of injuries and potentials
Establishment of new protocols for treatment will therefore become necessary
Clinical applications
In addition to our scientific program we would also like to explore the possibilities
for application of advanced clinical methods in selected medical centres.
Our scientific advisory board will identify the specifique methods and centres
for implementation.
We are currently evaluating:
- Brain Motor Control Assessment (BMCA);
a tool for identification of sub clinical potential - Epidural electrical stimulation;
implantation of electrodes on the spinal cord to achieve locomotion - Mesh glove stimulation;
increase potential for the recovery of movement functions after spinal cord injury, head injury and stroke
We seek to be a progressive force for implementation of advanced clinical methods based on scientific accomplishments.
