Washington University

University of Minnesota

University of Washington

Other

Steven Rothman

John W Miller

Matthew Smyth

Raimondo D'Ambrosio

Jason Fender

Jeffrey Ojemann

Compositions and methods for stimulating erogenous zones of female and male subjects are disclosed. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to compositions for topical application to the female and male genitalia that increase cell membrane excitability and to methods of using the compositions for treating sexual dysfunction and enhancing sexual arousal and facilitating orgasm.

Treatment of disorders of sexual arousal with local application of agents that increase membrane excitability

Passive prosthetic devices for focally cooling a brain and methods for inhibiting seizures are disclosed. The prosthetic devices replace a thermally insulating bone flap with a thermally conductive insert having an inner surface that contacts the relatively warm meninges or brain and an outer surface that contacts the relatively cool scalp. In an embodiment, the prosthesis is unitary; in another, a biocompatible casing is filled with a highly conductive core; in another, a filled polymer block is attached to a plate; and in another, the bone flap is filled with a conductive polymer. In one embodiment, a filled polymer containing elements that exhibit the magnetocaloric effect provide heat transfer that can be enhanced by application of a suitable magnetic field. Focal cooling as low as 1.2&#xb0; C. has been found effective at inhibiting seizures.

Methods and devices for brain cooling for treatment and/or prevention of epileptic seizures

A device for cooling the central nervous system (e.g., the brain) is disclosed that is specifically designed to provide cooling of an injured central nervous system for neuroprotective, antiepileptogenic, and/or antiepileptic treatments. In one embodiment, a portion of the cooling device is placed in a recess formed by removal of a portion of a patient's skull. An embedded heat-collecting portion of the cooling device is formed to fit in the location of the formed recess and a thermally conductive material of the heat-collecting portion is placed adjacent the dura mater to provide the desired degree of cooling. A heat-dissipating external plate is in thermal contact with the internal plate, and can be selectively sized according to a specific purpose.

Methods and devices for brain cooling for treatment and prevention of acquired epilepsy

A manually activated Peltier device was placed in direct contact with a cortical slice. Seizures terminated within seconds of the onset of cooling, sometimes preceding a detectable drop in temperature measured near the top of the slice. Activation of the Peltier did not stop seizures when slices were no longer in direct physical contact with the device, indicating that this was not a field effect. When cooling was shut off and temperature returned to 33&#xb0; C., the bursting sometimes returned, but a longer term suppressive effect on seizure activity could be observed. In two experiments, a custom computer program automatically detected seizure discharges and triggered a TTL pulse to activate the Peltier. In these experiments the Peltier automatically terminated the slice bursting in less than four seconds. When the Peltier device was placed in contact with the normal, exposed cortex of a newborn pig, we found that the cortical temperature rapidly decreased from 36&#xb0; C. to as low as 26&#xb0; C., at a depth of 1.7 mm below the cooling unit. Therefore, local cooling may rapidly terminate focal paroxysmal discharges and might be adapted for clinical practice.

Growing community of inventors

Clayton, MO, United States of America

Steven Rothman