Silk brain implant 'could ease spinal injury'RSS Feed

People with spinal injuries may benefit from a new brain implant made partly out of silk, it is believed.

Scientists at the University of Illinois, Urbana, the University of Pennsylvania and Tufts University in Boston are quoted in the journal Nature Materials as saying that the device melts into the surface of the brain.

For people with spinal cord injuries, the hope is that the implant could interpret complex brain signals that direct movement and route them to healthy parts of the body.

"These implants have the potential to maximise the contact between electrodes and brain tissue, while minimising damage to the brain," said Dr Walter Koroshetz, deputy director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that another team of scientists believe crustaceans could hold the key to a new treatment for spinal cord injuries.

Research from the Centre for Paralysis Research at the Purdue School of Veterinary Medicine in Indiana, which was published in The Journal of Experimental Biology, suggests sugar contained in the shells of sea creatures could help in patching up damage to an injured spinal cord.

News from Serious Law, specialist spinal injury compensation solicitors

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