Spinal Stimulation and Potential Muscle Growth Drug for Movement Training

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Children with cerebral palsy (CP) often experience challenges with walking, muscle tone, and movement. This is in part due to imbalances in nerve signaling causing muscles to become rigid, tight, and resistant to movement.  

The purpose of this study is to find out if a type of gentle electrical stimulation to the spine, called transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS), can help improve movement, walking, balance, and muscle control in children with CP. tSCS sends small electrical currents down the spinal cord to stimulate neural pathways, which can facilitate proper muscle response. Previous research has shown that this method can improve the quality of movement and walking. Children enrolled in this study will receive 16 weeks of non-invasive tSCS therapy paired with gait or activity training. 

A subset of participants will also receive a dose of 5-azacitidine (AZA), an FDA-approved drug for pediatric oncology. AZA is not currently approved by the FDA for use in treating CP. Laboratory research has shown that AZA has the potential to aid in muscle growth and regeneration. It’s experimental, non FDA-approved use in this study is to investigate if targeting muscular deficits while also undergoing tSCS treatment can further improve muscle control in children with CP. 

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This project is led by Arun Jayaraman, PT and Richard Lieber, PhD.

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This project is associated with the Max Näder Center for Rehabilitation Technologies and Outcomes Research and Building Advanced Cerebral Palsy Assistive Care Solutions (BACPACS) Centers.