The Technology
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a group of complex inflammatory disorders involving the gastrointestinal tract. It is a chronic condition with no medical cure, which commonly requires a lifetime of care. To this day, the mechanism of the disease’s pathophysiology is not fully understood. There are a variety of known risk factors (e.g. environmental, genetic), but no conclusive etiology as of yet. Hence, the suggested therapies today (including high-dose steroids, immunomodulators and surgery) lack specificity and suffer from chronic adverse effects.
Using an established colitis murine model, we found that inhibiting neurons of the insular cortex, which were activated during colon inflammation, significantly reduced the severity of the inflammatory response. Moreover, activation of these neurons alone, in healthy mice, elicited an inflammatory response, particularly in the colon. Thus, the suggested application is modulation of insular activity as a treatment for gastro-intestine related disorders. This can be achieved by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), biofeedback or focused ultrasound modulation.
Advantages
- Targeted therapy
- Fewer side-effects (relative to existing treatments)
Applications and Opportunities
- Targeted therapy for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Neuromodulation for the treatment of inflammatory conditions
- Neuromodulation for the treatment of autoimmune disorders
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