11-08-2025
Bioelectronic Medicine. Using Electricity for therapeutic purposes
My first approach to bioelectronic medicine took place at the University of Texas at Dallas, where I joined a multidisciplinary research team in the Department of Bioengineering. I was captivated by how the integration of neuroscience, bioengineering, and materials science could lead to the development of therapies for a wide range of clinical conditions (e.g. epilepsy, neurodevelopmental, and autonomic disorders).
URLMy initial training in neuroscience began at UNAM’s Institute of Neurobiology (INB), where I obtained my Master’s degree in neurobiology and my PhD in biomedical sciences. There I not only acquired foundational research expertise to study how the nervous system works but also nurtured my curiosity about how we can modulate its function with therapeutic purposes.
Currently I conduct my research at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI), a collaborative entity between Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital, located in the Texas Medical Center. I use animal models of epilepsy, hypertension, and obstructive sleep apnea to implant bioelectronic devices for studying biological mechanisms and develop innovative electrical therapies.
WHAT IS BIOELECTRONIC MEDICINE?
Also known as electrical neuromodulation [see p. 310 in this issue], bioelectronic medicine is transforming modern medicine. It involves the use of implantable biomedical technologies to deliver controlled electrical currents to specific areas of the nervous system to treat diseases or restore function in certain parts of the body. The nervous system includes not only the brain but also peripheral nerves that control both voluntary and autonomic functions. The voluntary nervous system enables us to move our body with high precision and sense stimuli from our environment, such as scents, colors, or textures. The autonomous nervous system controls the function of vital organs, including the beating of the heart and the continuous breathing of the lungs.
Despite the increased focus on electrical therapy in recent decades, this practice dates back long time, when people discovered that touching electric fish (e.g. lampreys) could provide temporary pain relief. These observations led to transformative discoveries in electricity.
Perhaps the delayed emergence of electrical therapy, despite early observations, can be attributed to the rise of the pharmaceutical industry, which developed antibiotics, analgesics, and other medications that would be substituted by alternative therapies. It was in the late 20th century that spinal cord stimulation was implemented for chronic pain using implantable devices, forming the basis of modern neuromodulation. The development of deep brain stimulation further expanded the field, especially after its success in treating Parkinson’s disease, leading to its use in the treatment of epilepsy and various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Recent studies suggest that combining pharmacological and electrical therapies may enhance clinical outcomes in the future.
Bioelectronic medicine convey unique challenges, as it is inherently a multidisciplinary field, bringing together experts from neuroscience, engineering, clinical practice, computer science, and other areas. It involves not only understanding how diseases work but also analyzing large amounts of data to better understand mechanisms, improve treatments, and create biocompatible materials for implantable technologies.
The modern era of this field has led to the development of new implantable stimulators and the identification of new therapeutic targets, one of which is the vagus nerve, a key autonomous nerve that connects the brain to peripheral organs. Stimulation of the vagus nerve has been shown to alleviate epilepsy, leading to its first clinical approval in Europe in 1994. This treatment has also proven helpful for patients with drug-resistant depression. While the mechanisms are not yet fully understood, it is believed that the reduction of inflammation in both the brain and the periphery may play a role. Additionally, vagus nerve stimulation has been shown to reduce inflammation in conditions such as sepsis, asthma, and inflammatory bowel disease. In 2020, this treatment was approved as an emergency intervention during the COVID-19 pandemic to help people with asthma reduce inflammation and improve breathing difficulties.
Bioelectronic medicine is experiencing rapid growth, with a primary goal of identifying precise therapeutic targets to enhance health and quality of life for patients in need. While significant challenges remain, the rapid advancements in technology offer great promise for the development and delivery of more effective therapies.
Health and Electricity
UNAM Internacional
Have you ever had an electric shock? It hurts and scares, especially if it happens to you in a South American or European country, where the electric current has 220 volts and the discharge is twice as strong as, say, in Mexico or the United States. This source of energy, to which we are so accustomed today that we even use it to replace, with less polluting technology, the fuel that moves our vehicles, was a mystery for centuries and properties that we could describe as magical were attributed to it.
Since knowledge about electricity began to be systematized—remember Benjamin Franklin and his kite—in the 18th century, different perspectives have attributed healing or therapeutic capacities and characteristics to this omnipresent force of nature, but not always with careful and prudent handling. The controversy unleashed in the times of Tesla and Edison regarding the best way in which electricity could serve society is proverbial: Edison’s direct current was the cause of numerous and frequent deadly accidents, so Tesla’s proposal, the alternate current, won the industry’s race.
Medical applications of electricity soon came along. Among them, its impact on the nervous system led to the development of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the treatment of epilepsy and other disorders. In the classic film One Flew over the Cookoo’s Nest (Milos Forman, United States, 1975), McMurphy, the main character played by a young Jack Nicholson, is subjected to ECT in a shocking staging that, according to many specialists, has contributed to the bad reputation of this type of treatment that continues to be used for various purposes under new protocol controls that reduce suffering and damage that it may bring.
During the 19th century and until the beginning of the 20th, an insufficient knowledge of electricity generated myths (such as spiritual powers detached from magnetism) and scientific fictions (such as Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, who was breathed to life by the lightning of a storm, following the experiments of Luigi Galvani, a founder of neurophysiology), as well as practical applications: electricity is a powerful source of energy and continues to drive civilizational development. ECT is one such application and, although it is shrouded in intense controversies, it is still in use for certain treatments under WHO-sanctioned protocols that include the use of anesthetics and, of course, much more controllable technology than was used in the early 20th century.
Modern electrical neuromodulation, heir to this development process of the use of electricity in health, takes advantage of minimal and controlled forces of electricity that are not harmful or invasive, to act on a medium since it uses electricity for communication.
M. Alejandra Gonzalez-Gonzalez, formed at the Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro and UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico), is currently a researcher at the Baylor College of Medicine, Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital, and the Texas Medical Center in the USA. Her work focuses on the neurophysiology of the brain-autonomic/peripheral system interface and bioelectronic medicine.
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