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Radio devices may help injured, group says

A nonprofit medical foundation is trying to convince the Defense Department to loosen restrictions on the radio spectrum to allow wide use of micro-stimulators to treat spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries and other disorders that restrict or prevent movement.

David Hankin, chief executive officer of the Alfred Mann Foundation, said Friday the California-based medical research organization has been working for nine years on technology that implants micro-stimulators in paralyzed or impaired limbs to produce small electrical pulses that stimulate nerves and muscle tissue. In some cases, this allows mobility or function in limbs. In other cases, it prevents atrophy, Hankin said.

The tiny devices, about the size of a car fuse, are magnetically rechargeable so they can remain implanted for up to 10 years, Hankin said.

The foundation has been involved with research and development of several advanced medical devices, including a hearing implant, retinal prosthesis and an implantable glucose sensor for diabetics.

The technology was tested in November 2008 on a Walter Reed Army Medical Center patient who had suffered a spinal cord injury in a bicycle accident, succeeding in restoring hip, knee and ankle function, Hankin said. The former Army officer, who did not want his name released, was able to move his limbs without electrical stimulation five months after they were inserted. This is a sign of the potential of the device that is expected to be part of clinic trials in Army and Navy hospitals and within the Veterans Affairs Department, Hankin said.

Micro-simulators that send the electrical pulses are implanted in the limbs and are controlled by a master unit that communicates by radio signal. It communicates using a portion of the radio spectrum reserved for the federal government. Hankin said the part of the spectrum needed by the device is used by the Defense Department, which is considering the foundation’s request to share the space.

The Defense Department “has not said no, which is a good thing,” Hankin said.

Military officials have expressed concern that radar signals could overpower the tiny micro-stimulators, which could cause dangerous situations for those who had the devices implanted, Hankin said. However, the foundation doesn’t think there would be any problem because radar uses long pulse signals while the stimulators use extremely short and frequent pulses, with a default setting to change bands if three successive pulse orders are interrupted, Hankin said.

The Defense Department’s Joint Spectrum Center, which allocates space within radio bands under the military’s control, is trying to determine if the medical micro-stimulators would interfere with military use. In this case, the question is whether military radar systems and the medical devices could operate on the same radio band.

The foundation is so sure that there would not be any trouble, it has written a $253,000 check to the Joint Spectrum Center to pay for tests to reveal if there is a problem. Hankin said the check was delivered to the military in September but nothing has happened. The last word he received is that a contractor would do the tests, and that there could be a meeting in December to discuss it.

Hankin has been meeting with military medical care officials and with members of Congress and their staff to drum up support for the system.