TECHNOLOGY
Nastaran Hashemi of Iowa State University
Shockwaves created by blows to the head create microbubbles that collapse
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NRTIMES
"There are people working with conductive
pumped through tiny channels to create
polymers which could read or relay signals
microfibres that are flexible, biocompatible and
from parts of the brain. At the moment they
bio-degradeable. Neural stem cells are then
are not as soft as we would like them, they are
attached to the microfibre scaffold.
very expensive and they don’t generate the
Researcher Nastaran Hashemi says: “We are
kind of electrical behavior that would allow any
interested in understanding how shockwaves
meaningful functionality.
created by blows to the head create
“In the longer term we need to get closer to
microbubbles that collapse near the nerve cells,
biological tissue. It could mean synthetic
or neurons in the brain, and damage them.”
neurons, perhaps creating cells of neurons
Though she believes it could be “five or ten
combining biological and electronic elements.
years” before we see this method transferred
Nanotechnology will help to advance this but
from the lab to hospitals and clinics.
obviously it’s not something that's going to
“Our hope is to gain a better understanding of
happen any time soon. I think we could begin
mild TBI which doesn’t often show immediate
non-human testing within ten years.”
effects but can cause differences over time,”
The development of internal components that
she says.
could improve neuro-rehab is already moving at
Another recent breakthrough is the use of a
pace. In October this year Iowa State University
BCI system to restore feeling in the arms and
announced a breakthrough in developing
fingers of a paralysed man. Researchers at the
microfibres which could eventually repair the
University of Pittsburgh and its associated
damage caused by traumatic brain injury (TBI).
medical centre UPMC enabled Nathan Copeland
Researchers have created a new way to design
to feel a sense of touch via a mind-controlled
and fabricate microfibres that support cell
robotic hand. Key components in the study
growth by providing ‘scaffolding’. A method
were tiny microelectrode arrays implanted on
called ‘microfluidic fabrication’ sees the
the brain where the neurons that control hand
biodegradable polyester Polycaprolactone
movement and touch are located.