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Special report: Neuro Convention 2023

Andrew Mernin heads to Birmingham to meet the experts, inventors and pioneers seeking to advance neuro-rehab this year. A health journalism cliché to emerge from the pandemic is that medical organisations – whether tech, care, pharma, research, private or public – are more collaborative now. Contributing to this idea was the relative swiftness with which vaccines were developed, thanks to various vast health and life science agents working together more closely than ever before. Also a uniting power were the challenges of social distancing and the new ways of working they forced. Any visitor to the Neuro Convention, in Birmingham, UK, could see plenty of examples to back up the case for this post-pandemic spirit of collaboration. It is a fact, however, that the neuro-rehab sector has always been more collaborative than many other healthcare fields even before the pandemic. Managing catastrophic injuries, brain and spinal conditions and complex disabilities requires a cast of professionals and innovators. They coalesce for the common good in many ways, including in multi-disciplinary teams and through the assembling call of the case manager. Here at the mammoth National Exhibition Centre (NEC), the Neuro Convention is taking place alongside Naidex, the UK’s national accessibility, inclusion and disability expo. While a whistlestop tour through the latter is dominated by slickly presented mobility tech and accessibility vehicles, it is exoskeletons and robotics that catch the eye on first entering the NC23. Organisers have created an area dedicated to these technologies – less a market square of   product makers peddling their wares and more a futuristic zone with a helpful cast of rehab robotics innovators and tech-savvy neuro physios.

By |2024-07-04T17:33:55+01:0029 March 2023|Insight, News|

Momentum building in stem cell-driven neuro research

The potential of stem cells to unlock new treatment options for brain injury survivors is being realised on several fronts, as NR Times reports. Researchers in Australia this week announced that they had begun collecting umbilical cord blood cells from preterm babies; with the aim of using them to reduce their increased risk of brain injury and disability. Theirs is the latest study seeking to unlock the full potential of stem cells in brain injury treatment. And, although at an early stage, it looks to have overcome an initial hurdle, with a 72 per cent success rate in what is a highly challenging cell collection procedure. This research focuses on the cord blood left in the umbilical cord and placenta of newborn babies after birth. It is rich in stem cells which can be used to help protect, repair and grow cells in the body.

By |2024-07-04T17:33:55+01:0024 March 2023|Parkinson's, Research|
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