Soft and Elastomeric Intramuscular Electrode with Therapeutic Delivery Capability

Approximately 5-6% of military injuries involve some form of major peripheral nerve injury that has little chance of spontaneous healing. Currently these injuries lead to major impairment of voluntary muscle function in the limbs and extremities, making tasks of walking, reaching, grasping, etc. very difficult or impossible for many patients. Focusing therapeutic treatments to segmental nerve injuries alone is insufficient as distal muscles may undergo denervation and atrophy following nerve trauma. Therefore, new methods to treat and stimulate the distal neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) during the proximal axonal regeneration process must be developed to maintain muscle viability for subsequent innervation and functionality. TDA Research, Inc. (TDA) and our partners at the Univ. of Pittsburgh (UP) are developing soft, flexible, neuromuscular electro-stimulation (ES) prosthetics with elastic composite electrodes and controlled release of neurotransmitters and growth factors to maintain healthy muscle function and promote reinnervation at the NMJs.