User Stories

Electrically stimulating the spinal cord can be an effective therapy for different kinds of treatment-resistant chronic pain. The exact mechanisms through which the stimulation suppresses pain are still not fully understood. In most systems currently used in patients, the electrodes are placed epidurally into the spinal cord canal. There is evidence that the stimulation effects […]

Delivering electrical currents to nerves can not only serve to stimulate them, by inducing action potentials that are carried along the nerve and finally activate the end organ (e.g., a muscle). Certain stimulation patterns can also suppress nerve activity, leading to an inhibitory effect on the respective end organs. This is of specific interest for

CorTec’s cuff electrodes have proven extremely helpful as interfaces for electrically interacting with the peripheral nervous system. The range of possible applications is vast. Cuff sizes, shapes and contact arrangements can be tailored to the specific target nerves, and the electrodes can both, stimulate and record. Nerve stimulation is often used for activating muscles, e.g.

Our urinary bladders have to fulfil two very different functions: On the one hand, they need to reliably collect urine throughout the day without any unintentional leakage. On the other hand, they need to empty as completely as possible during urination. To that end, the muscles involved in those two processes need to perform opposite

The extent to which our everyday life relies on dexterous usage of our hands is something that we usually only realize when things go wrong, e.g., when we break a bone and our hand is fixed in a plaster cast. Tetraplegic patients permanently suffer from these restrictions throughout their lives. Restoring hand movements, especially functional

We all intuitively know that our mental states can affect our physical wellbeing. Especially when it comes to fighting off infections, it is common knowledge that too much stress affects our resilience against germs. And yet, the concrete details of how our brain activity influences the immune system have remained largely unclear. A new, massively

Bladder problems affect millions of people worldwide, significantly decreasing quality of life and often coming with additional medical complications. One of the most common syndromes is called “overactive bladder”, in which, as the name already suggests, patients experience a constant urge to urinate. In a recent story, we already reported how scientists are currently trying

Interstitial cystitis (IC), also called bladder pain syndrome (BPS), is a chronic bladder health issue that strongly affects everyday life of millions of people worldwide. Patients chronically feel pain and pressure in the bladder area and an increasing urge to urinate. The causes for the condition are still unclear and treatment attempts often remain unsatisfactory.