New device boosting brain, body communication in stroke survivors
Ever since his stroke two years ago, David Sullivan has struggled to use his left side.
A 40-year-old father of two young girls, he says a lot goes on inside his head every time he swings a bat or picks up a towel.
"Extend," Sullivan said out loud, as he placed laundry in a basket at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston. "Now I'm picturing my hand opening up."
After the stroke, Sullivan's brain and body communicate differently — or not well at all.
"I'm working on rotation of the wrist," he said. "Being able to grab something and release easily. A lot of shoulder work reaching to shelves."
Repetition helps, but sometimes it's not enough. Many patients like Sullivan reach a plateau.
"He was highly motivated to continue to improve," said , a professor at Mass General Hospital's and an expert in rehab science.
"So you could be saying, 'Move your hand, move your hand,' and this one won't be moving," she demonstrated. "It's not enough of a signal to make it go."
Kimberley's research led to the development of a device to help boost that signal to the brain.
"It's not just for people who've just had their stroke," she said. "This can be somebody who's had a stroke several years ago, who's been told they've plateaued and not going to get any better. This is now available to them."
It's called the .
To work, a surgeon implants this device just under the skin on the chest. A wire runs along the vagus nerve from the neck to the brain. Once activated either at home or in rehab, the device sends a mild electric pulse through the wire.
"It stimulates the nerve directly, which then sends its message into the brain, helping to release neurotransmitters that help you to form the connections that you need so those nerves can get stronger," Kimberely said.
In clinical trials, patients who used the system during exercises saw their improvement double or even triple within six months.
Sullivan had the procedure in September.
"So two months out, I've noticed for the arm or the shoulder some gains," he said. "So that's encouraging. The hand is definitely slower, but I expected that."
The success so far motivates Sullivan to do more, but so do his girls.
"This is my job right now," he said. "Every day. Multiple times a day. It's constant."
Right now, the Vivistim System is only to treat motor function in the upper extremities, but new research is underway to evaluate its impact on other areas, such as the legs and even speech.
Patients interested in learning more about the treatment can contact the .
Watch the video above for the full story.