Using Electricity to Treat Arthritis and Cancer?
Medscape: What are the advantages and disadvantages of bioelectrical approaches compared with those of pharmacotherapies?
Dr Tracey: It is possible that bioelectrical therapy can avoid many drug side effects attributable to either off-target activities or from clearance mechanisms producing toxic metabolites. None of this would be expected to happen with localized nerve stimulation that focuses specific release of neurotransmitters in a select tissue for a brief period of time.
Medscape: Do you then see bioelectrical therapy as replacing certain drug therapies?
Dr Tracey: I think that some drugs can potentially be replaced. On the other hand, I don't think that devices are going to replace all drugs. I think that they're going to supplement some drugs, replace some drugs, and that some drugs are here to stay.
Medscape:Could bioelectrical implants also be used to monitor inflammatory disease activity?
Dr Tracey: Yes. The father of reflex biology, Charles Sherrington, pointed out that reflexes originate with sensory input. There is no reflex response without a change in the environment that is sensed by sensory nerves. Within the sensory nerves resides the information required to activate the outgoing neurosignals. So, if the key to these outgoing signals is held by the incoming sensory signals, then there's a tremendous opportunity for mapping the incoming signals in response to changes in the inflammatory or metabolic environment. My colleagues and I are actively pursuing this now.
Medscape: How widely are bioelectrical approaches being studied? Are there other groups pursuing similar research avenues?
Dr Tracey: There is a tremendous ecosystem of research out there now. The National Institutes of Health has launched a major initiative in support of this, on the order of $248 million. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced a major initiative as well. And GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest drug companies, has launched an initiative upwards of $50 million. SetPoint Medical, the company I cofounded, has also actively engaged in clinical trials. Here at the Feinstein Institute at the North Shore-LIJ Health System, we are in the process of significantly expanding our investment in this area. We are looking now to add an additional 10 laboratories or more into a new center for bioelectronic medicine.
Advantages and Drawbacks
Medscape: What are the advantages and disadvantages of bioelectrical approaches compared with those of pharmacotherapies?
Dr Tracey: It is possible that bioelectrical therapy can avoid many drug side effects attributable to either off-target activities or from clearance mechanisms producing toxic metabolites. None of this would be expected to happen with localized nerve stimulation that focuses specific release of neurotransmitters in a select tissue for a brief period of time.
Medscape: Do you then see bioelectrical therapy as replacing certain drug therapies?
Dr Tracey: I think that some drugs can potentially be replaced. On the other hand, I don't think that devices are going to replace all drugs. I think that they're going to supplement some drugs, replace some drugs, and that some drugs are here to stay.
Medscape:Could bioelectrical implants also be used to monitor inflammatory disease activity?
Dr Tracey: Yes. The father of reflex biology, Charles Sherrington, pointed out that reflexes originate with sensory input. There is no reflex response without a change in the environment that is sensed by sensory nerves. Within the sensory nerves resides the information required to activate the outgoing neurosignals. So, if the key to these outgoing signals is held by the incoming sensory signals, then there's a tremendous opportunity for mapping the incoming signals in response to changes in the inflammatory or metabolic environment. My colleagues and I are actively pursuing this now.
Medscape: How widely are bioelectrical approaches being studied? Are there other groups pursuing similar research avenues?
Dr Tracey: There is a tremendous ecosystem of research out there now. The National Institutes of Health has launched a major initiative in support of this, on the order of $248 million. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has announced a major initiative as well. And GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world's largest drug companies, has launched an initiative upwards of $50 million. SetPoint Medical, the company I cofounded, has also actively engaged in clinical trials. Here at the Feinstein Institute at the North Shore-LIJ Health System, we are in the process of significantly expanding our investment in this area. We are looking now to add an additional 10 laboratories or more into a new center for bioelectronic medicine.
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