Blood vessels are guides for stimulating implants

Wireless nerve stimulator about the size of a rice grain could treat chronic pain, diseases

HOUSTON – (March 31, 2022) – An implant little bigger than a grain of rice, put gently in place alongside a strategically placed blood vessel, could replace much bulkier devices that stimulate nerves.

Rice University neuroengineers and colleagues from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have published the first proof-of-concept results from a yearslong program to develop tiny, wireless nerve stimulators that can treat chronic pain and neurological diseases. (Photo by Josh Chen/Rice University)Rice University engineers in collaboration with a host of Texas Medical Center institutions have published the first proof-of-concept results from a yearslong program to develop tiny, wireless devices that can treat neurological diseases or block pain. The nerve stimulators require no batteries and instead draw both their power and programming from a low-powered magnetic transmitter outside the body.

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