Information

 Cyborg Mutants Research Project

Data Why it Happens: Nerves damaged, so data can’t get from the body to the brain. Nerves can’t repair themselves.
 * Symptoms: Breathing difficulties (from paralysis of the breathing muscles), Loss of normal bowel and bladder control (may include constipation, incontinence, bladder spasms), Numbness, Sensory changes, Spasticity (increased muscle tone), Pain, Weakness, paralysis
 * Distance to brain and amount of damage changes symptoms: When spinal cord damaged “completely”, all of body below injury paralyzed; when damage incomplete, some sensation and control below injury
 * Drugs used: methylprednisolone, baclofen, lidocaine, heparin, acetaminophen, morphine, warfarin, viagra.
 *  Treatment: Drugs to reduce spinal swelling, removing things compressing spinal cord, realigning spinal cord and head, bedrest for bone healing. (ONLY able to be used directly after injury.) Later treatments: Therapy, spinal brace and other accompanying devices.
 * Time after injury of treatment is VERY important: ?Add a temporary spine w/electrodes to keep functions running, carry in ambulance?
 * Diagnosing: See what damage looked like, use MRI scan, ?safety first: place artificial spine on?
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Possible causes: Trauma (damage, such as car crash-most common, violence, sports), blood loss, compression (directly on the nerves by a tumor or excess fluids), certain diseases
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13pt; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spinal cord make up, inside to outside: Main cord, ventral horn, trunk, vertebrae, spinal nerves

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Possible Innovative Solutions: Use wires and tubes to pipe the bioelectric and chemical messages through, which are surgically installed as a bridge in the spine (perfect!). Use stem cells to regrow the spine(?complicated?). Completely bypass spine w/artificial spine: surgically installed or w/electrodes as temporary measure(?impractical?)

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TELL US WHAT YOU THINK!