A Northwestern University-led team of researchers has developed a small, soft, flexible implant that relieves pain on demand and without the use of drugs. The first-of-its-kind device could provide a much-needed alternative to opioids and other highly addictive medications.

Figure 1.Implantable device to relive pains without using drugs.

Figure 1 shows that the biocompatible, water-soluble device works by softly wrapping around nerves to deliver precise, targeted cooling, which numbs nerves and blocks pain signals to the brain.

An external pump enables the user to remotely activate the device and then increase or decrease its intensity. After the device is no longer needed, it naturally absorbs into the body—bypassing the need for surgical extraction. [1]

The implant—approximately the thickness of a sheet of paper—is soft and flexible, allowing a cuff on one end to wrap around a single nerve at a time. Once in place, separate channels of liquid coolant and dry nitrogen flow into a shared chamber, immediately causing the coolant to begin evaporating. The cooling process of evaporation lowers the temperature of the nerve, numbing it enough to stop the transmission of pain signals to the brain.

The temperature drop is monitored by a tiny sensor embedded in the device, which transmits information to an external receiver. Patients and their healthcare providers can control the therapy using that pump, ensuring that the temperature doesn’t drop too far, to levels that could potentially cause tissue damage.

When the treatment period is complete, the implant’s completely water-soluble components are fully and safely absorbed by the body’s biofluids over the span of days and weeks. [2]

Rogers says pain management can be a pretty tricky business with different kinds of pain like chronic or acute pain. The devices must still go through a regulatory period before being used on human subjects.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to make an impact. We’re pretty happy with the progress we’ve been able to make. But we understand that there’s a lot of additional work that needs to happen. But we’re very dedicated to this problem because we think it could impact a broad swath of the community,” Rogers said.

So far, Rogers has not seen any side effects from the implants. Still, he believes a deeper dive around the biological consequences of extended periods of cooling is necessary. He expects that to be the team’s focus for the next two to three years. [3]

References:

1. https://www.laboratoryequipment.com/587789-Dissolving-Implantable-Device-Relieves-Pain-Without-Drugs/
2. https://www.fiercebiotech.com/medtech/northwestern-researchers-develop-dissolving-nerve-cooling-device-drug-free-pain-relief
3. https://www.newsnationnow.com/us-news/researchers-dissolvable-implant-could-help-combat-opioid-crisis/

Cite this article:

Sri Vasagi K (2022), A New Flexible Implant Device Relives Pain Without Drugs, AnaTechMaz, pp.112