The history of SPARC and the birth of bioelectronic medicine are explored in a new article out today in MIT Technology Reports. Precise neuromodulation would continue to be elusive without a better understanding of how to bridge the body and the brain. As author Sally Adee describes it, "the existing maps of the human peripheral nervous system were old and quite limited. Such a low-resolution road map wouldn’t be sufficient to get a signal from the highway all the way to a destination."
The Stimulating Peripheral Activity to Relieve Conditions (SPARC) Program research initiative sought to address these knowledge gaps. Read the article here for the full story, and visit the maps here to see how the research community has risen to the task.
"Ten years after electroceuticals entered (and then quickly departed) the lexicon, the SPARC program has yielded important information about the electrical particulars of the peripheral nervous system. Its maps have illuminated nodes that are both surgically attractive and medically relevant. It has funded a global constellation of academic researchers. But its insights will be useful for the next generation of implants, not those in trials today."
-Sally Adee, MIT Technology review
