Northridge-based SpineX Inc., a clinical-stage company developing noninvasive neuromodulation devices, has had some of its research published in a peer-reviewed journal as it gears up for clinical trials of a device to treat cerebral palsy.
SpineX, which was founded in 2018, has been developing a device that’s placed in a patient’s spinal cord and generates electrical signals designed to allow the spinal cord to regain voluntary control of body movements. In effect, the device amplifies the correct neural signals in order to help the patient better control muscle movement. Implanting the electrodes is viewed as a comparatively noninvasive alternative to spinal cord surgery.
The first application of this technology was to treat neurogenic bladder, a condition of involuntary bladder movements triggered by neuron misfirings in the spinal cord or the brain. SpineX is in the midst of clinical trials for this use and could wrap up those trials as early as next year, according to Chief Executive Parag Gad.
SpineX is now focused on applying its spinal cord electrical stimulation technology to the treatment of cerebral palsy, a disease that often begins in childhood and now affects an estimated 500,000 children and 250,000 adults across the nation. It’s caused by abnormal neural connectivity between the brain and spinal cord, and affects motor function, both generating involuntary muscle movements and impeding the ability to move voluntarily.