Changing stroke rehab and research worldwide now.Time is Brain! trillions and trillions of neurons that DIE each day because there are NO effective hyperacute therapies besides tPA(only 12% effective). I have 523 posts on hyperacute therapy, enough for researchers to spend decades proving them out. These are my personal ideas and blog on stroke rehabilitation and stroke research. Do not attempt any of these without checking with your medical provider. Unless you join me in agitating, when you need these therapies they won't be there.

What this blog is for:

My blog is not to help survivors recover, it is to have the 10 million yearly stroke survivors light fires underneath their doctors, stroke hospitals and stroke researchers to get stroke solved. 100% recovery. The stroke medical world is completely failing at that goal, they don't even have it as a goal. Shortly after getting out of the hospital and getting NO information on the process or protocols of stroke rehabilitation and recovery I started searching on the internet and found that no other survivor received useful information. This is an attempt to cover all stroke rehabilitation information that should be readily available to survivors so they can talk with informed knowledge to their medical staff. It lays out what needs to be done to get stroke survivors closer to 100% recovery. It's quite disgusting that this information is not available from every stroke association and doctors group.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

UT Southwestern testing Vivistim System device in stroke patients - vagus nerve

Vagus nerve stimulation has been written about since July, 2012.
And just when the hell will the research be enough to create a stroke protocol? Ask your doctor that exact question. And don't be polite about it.
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150507/UT-Southwestern-testing-Vivistim-System-device-in-stroke-patients.aspx 
 
UT Southwestern Medical Center will be one of three national sites to pioneer U.S. testing for an implant device that stimulates the vagus nerve in stroke patients to see whether it can help restore lost arm function.
The Vivistim® System device, developed by Dallas-based MicroTransponder Inc. with a license from UT Dallas, stimulates the neck's vagus nerve, a key nerve stretching from the medulla oblongata in the brain down to the throat, larynx, trachea, lungs, heart, esophagus, and intestinal tract. Implanted under the collarbone, the device, which is about the size of a pacemaker, sends painless, half-second electrical pulses up the vagus nerve, causing chemicals called neuromodulators to be released in various parts of the brain. Alternate forms of vagus nerve stimulation therapy already are approved for use in the U.S. by the Federal Drug Administration for treating other illnesses, including depression and epilepsy.
"These neuromodulators appear to facilitate the creation of new neuron pathways in the brain, which play a key role in restoring muscle movement," said Dr. Ty Shang, Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics at UT Southwestern, who is heading the UT Southwestern arm of the trial. UT Southwestern is one of three sites in the nation.
"A stroke deprives brain cells of oxygen," said Dr. Shang, a vascular neurologist who is part of UT Southwestern's stroke team. "Without oxygen, the brain cells die, and can no longer perform the function for which they were intended. There has been no known way to regenerate new brain cells to replace them, but in early tests with this device, the brain appears to 'rewire' other cells to perform the function.
The study is sponsored by MicroTransponder Inc. and partially funded by the Texas Biomedical Device Center at UT Dallas. The Vivistim® system, designed to improve motor function in the more involved arm of a person following stroke, was studied starting in 2013 for efficacy and safety in a small study in Glasgow, Scotland. Individuals in the Glasgow study experienced meaningful functional improvements in their more involved arm. Many were able to resume daily activities like swimming, driving, and caring for grandchildren.
"VNS therapy may be the stimulus for motor relearning with the more involved arm for individuals following stroke. Gaining functional improvement in the impaired arm is an arduous task. VNS therapy might make achieving functional gains easier," Dr. Shang said.
UT Southwestern researchers are seeking persons in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex who had a stroke four months to five years ago to participate in the trial. After having outpatient surgery to implant the device, participants will be scheduled for 18, 90-minute sessions of intensive, task-specific therapy over a six-week period with quarterly follow-up evaluations for the next year.
Source:
UT Southwestern Medical Center

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