This month’s MyCP Webinar is on Monday, October 10 at 8 pm ET featuring a discussion about how noninvasive spinal cord stimulation can enable reductions in spasticity and improvement to gross motor skills. We have invited SpineX Chief Executive Parag Gad, PhD and CP Research Network Steering Committee member Jason Carmel, MD, PhD, to present a planned study of noninvasive spinal cord stimulation based on promising preliminary data developed by SpineX. Dr. Carmel, a pediatric neurologist who directs the Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University, would lead one clinical site of this novel intervention for people with spasticity.

Although CP is largely due to brain injury, spinal cord circuits are altered by injury to the developing brain. Loss of motor and sensory connections alter the function of the spinal cord in CP and result in the spasticity which can impair the ability to walk, trunk control, other motor functions in addition to causing pain. Electrical stimulation has been shown to reduce spasticity and improves movement. Noninvasive spinal cord stimulation presents the potential to achieve these benefits with a wearable device. SpineX, a start-up company, has conducted a preliminary study with 16 people including people who can walk independently and wheelchair users.

Dr. Carmel organized a discussion at the CP Research Network’s annual research meeting to present the concept embodied in SpineX’s work for consideration in the network. Initially SpineX is seeking to conduct a trial using eight sites with one CP Research Network site at Columbia. If the trial is successful, it could be expanded to numerous CPRN centers.

Dr. Gad will present the evidence around spinal stimulation and explain the planned trial to the community and then be interviewed by Dr. Carmel to answer questions from the community about noninvasive spinal cord stimulation in CP and the trial. Community members interested in learning about this topic and technology can register for the webinar on cprn.org. The webinar will be recorded and posted to the network’s YouTube channel.