Watafiti wameonyesha kifaa cha kielektroniki kinaweza kugundua na kumaliza kifafa kikipandikizwa kwenye ubongo wa panya.
Utawala ubongo seli zinazoitwa niuroni ama husisimua au kuzuia niuroni zingine zilizo karibu nazo kutuma ujumbe. Kuna usawa laini wa nyuroni ambazo 'husisimua' na zile ambazo 'husimamisha' uwasilishaji wa ujumbe. Katika hali inayoitwa kifafa - ugonjwa sugu wa ubongo ambao huathiri watu wa kila rika na jinsia - niuroni katika ubongo wa mtu huanza kuwaka na kutoa ishara kwa niuroni za jirani pia kuwaka wakati huo huo. Hii husababisha kuongezeka kwa athari ambayo husababisha usawa kati ya shughuli ya 'kusisimua' na 'kusimamisha'. Chanzo kikuu cha shughuli hii ya umeme inadhaniwa kuwa mabadiliko changamano ya kemikali ambayo hutokea katika seli za neva. Mshtuko hutokea wakati msukumo wa umeme unapopuka mipaka yao ya kawaida. Kifafa huathiri ufahamu wa mtu au udhibiti wa gari. Kifafa chenyewe si ugonjwa bali ni dalili za matatizo mbalimbali katika ubongo. Vifafa vingine havionekani lakini vingine vinalemaza mtu. Ingawa kuna aina kadhaa za kifafa, aina iliyo hapo juu inahusishwa na kifafa. Kifafa ni mojawapo ya magonjwa ya kawaida ya mishipa ya fahamu ambapo takriban watu milioni 50 wanaugua ugonjwa huo duniani kote. Matibabu ya kawaida ya kifafa ni matumizi ya kifafa dawa kama vile benzodiazepines ambazo sio tu zina madhara makubwa lakini pia hazifanyi kazi katika kuzuia kifafa katika asilimia 30 ya wagonjwa wa kifafa. Watu wenye kifafa na familia zao wanapaswa kukabiliana na unyanyapaa na ubaguzi unaohusishwa na ugonjwa huu hasa katika nchi za kipato cha chini na cha kati.
Timu ya watafiti wa Uingereza na Ufaransa katika Chuo Kikuu cha Cambridge, École Nationale Supérieure des Mines na INSERM wameonyesha kifaa cha kielektroniki ambacho kilipopandikizwa kwenye ubongo wa panya kiliweza kugundua dalili ya kwanza ya mshtuko. Baada ya utambuzi huu, iliweza kutoa kemikali ya asili ya ubongo ndani ya ubongo ambayo ilizuia mshtuko huo kuendelea zaidi. Utafiti wao wa ubunifu umechapishwa katika Maendeleo ya Sayansi.
The electronic device is thin, soft, flexible and made of kikaboni films allowing it to interface well with human tissue. It is also safe as does minimal damage to the brain. The electrical properties of these kikaboni films make them ideally suited for such medical applications where interface with living tissue is needed. The neurotransmitter or drug in the device targets the origin point of the seizure and thereby signals neurons to discontinue firing. This causes the seizure to stop. A neural probe was used to transport this neurotransmitter to the affected part of the brain. This probe incorporates a mini ion pump and electrodes which monitor brain activity for potential seizure. When probe electrodes detect a neural signal belonging to a seizure, ion pump gets activated which then creates an electric field. This electric field enables drug movement across an ion exchange membrane from an internal reserve to outside of the electronic device by a process called electrophoresis which technically allows patients to control dosage and timing of the neurotransmitter drug in a more precise manner. The exact quantity of the drug to be released can be based according to strength of the electric field. This innovative method takes care of ‘when’ and ‘how’ much drug needs to be delivered for a specific patient. The drug is delivered without any added solvent solution which helps in preventing any damage to the surrounding tissue. The drug interacts efficiently with cells just outside of the device. Researchers found that only a small amount of drug was required to prevent seizures and this amount was accounted as no more than 1 percent of the entire drug which was initially added into the device. This is helpful as the device will need not to be refilled for lengthy durations. The drug used in this particular study was a native neurotransmitter in our body and it was seamlessly consumed by natural developments in the brain immediately upon its release. This suggests that the treatment described should reduce or even eradicate any undesired drug side effects.
Utafiti unahitaji kufanywa kwa undani zaidi katika panya ili kupima madhara yanayoweza kutokea na kisha utafiti sambamba unaweza kufanywa kwa binadamu. Inaweza kuwa muda, miaka kadhaa labda, kabla ya kifaa hiki kupatikana kwenye soko kwa matumizi ya umma. Inahitaji pia kuchunguzwa ikiwa kifaa kama hicho kinaweza kuzuia kukamata kabisa. Mbinu hii ikifaulu inaweza kuleta mapinduzi katika dawa za kifafa na pia kusaidia katika magonjwa mengine kama hayo. Kuna matumaini kwamba mbinu kama hiyo inaweza kutumika kwa aina mbalimbali za matatizo ya mishipa ya fahamu ikiwa ni pamoja na uvimbe wa ubongo, kiharusi na ugonjwa wa Parkinson.
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{Unaweza kusoma karatasi asili ya utafiti kwa kubofya kiungo cha DOI kilichotolewa hapa chini katika orodha ya (vyanzo) vilivyotajwa}
Chanzo (s)
Proctor CM et al. 2018. Utoaji wa madawa ya electrophoretic kwa udhibiti wa kukamata. Maendeleo ya sayansi. 4 (8). https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aau1291
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