Our FMHS group is bringing together different strands of expertise to develop novel treatment approaches for spinal cord injury. We have different injectable and implantable drug delivery platforms for sustained and tuneable delivery of bioactives. Using both commercial and custom fabricated microelectrode arrays we record and stimulate nerve cells in cell-based and rat studies. Electrochemistry approaches are used to modify electrode surfaces. In this presentation we will give an overview of the different strands of our research, and then focus on a subdural implant to treat spinal cord injury.

Spinal cord injury has a profound impact on quality of life as sufferers contend with loss of function, paralysis and pain, and there are currently no regenerative treatments available. Our group has developed an ultra-thin, flexible bioelectronic implant capable of both monitoring electrical activity and applying regenerative electrical fields. We can safely and consistently insert the implant along the thoracic spinal cord in rats and maintain it for up to 3 months, sufficiently long to influence regeneration and then observe functional improvements in a rat spinal cord injury model. By housing the implant plug in a small backpack attached via sutures and surgical mesh to the back muscle we have obtained the first spinal cord electrical recording from freely moving animals. Currently we are looking for input into how we can best analyse this novel electrophysiological dataset. We are also making preparations to begin testing a daily electrical stimulation treatment using the implant. These preparations include development of a finite element model of the implant and spinal cord to identify the optimal stimulation parameters to use. This will help inform a re-design of the implant to include larger electrodes composed of superior materials that are optimised for stimulation rather than recording. In the future we are looking to replace our daily ‘wired’ stimulation treatments with a compact implantable stimulator unit to allow continuous unsupervised electrical treatment via the implant.

Dr Bruce Harland

Postdoctoral Researcher, School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland

Bruce Harland is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Pharmacy FMHS where he is developing the use of a bioelectronic implant as a treatment platform and neural recording device in a rodent model of spinal cord injury. His expertise is in the construction, implantation and maintenance of small electrophysiological devices and using them for stimulation and recording in the brain and spinal cord of awake freely behaving animals. The goal of the current research is translational, to provide new avenues of treatment for cases of clinical spinal cord injury

Associate Professor Darren Svirskis

Darren Svirskis is an Associate Professor in the School of Pharmacy FMHS where he serves as the Director of Research. His research expertise lie in sustained and stimuli responsive drug delivery from a range of polymeric platforms, as well as the use of microelectrode arrays to interface with nerve cells both in culture and in pre-clinical models. He applies these technologies to improve health around the time of surgery, and to explore new treatments for addressing spinal cord injury.

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