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University of Michigan researchers' $2.2 million grant could produce new treatments for ALS
by Gary Gosselin | Ann Arbor Business Review
Thursday August 28, 2008, 6:50 AM

Researchers at University of Michigan Health System secured more than $2.2 million in grants for three studies that could provide new treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - Lou Gehrig's Disease.
These studies are just a few of the 12 begun in recent weeks, and more than 100 ongoing projects that drew more than $340 million in grants to the Medical School last year.

"The University is trying to expand its life sciences corridor, and that will be a significant economic impact for the state, especially with the clinical and scientific research going on at U-M," said Dr. Kristen Gruis, co-director of U-M's Motor Neuron Disease/ALS Center.

University of Michigan is ranked No. 4 in the nation in research spending, with more than $800 million spent in 2006. Medical research projects making it to the commercial market brought U-M $7.1 million in royalties last year.

As one of only 32 centers certified by the ALS Association, the Motor Neuron Disease Center has been certified since 1990, and one of the longest established centers in the country.

Research on breathing

Gruis is working on two breathing studies for ALS patients in hopes of lengthening patient life spans and improving quality of life.


The study uses a BiPAP machine, or bi-level positive airway pressure, which generates air flow through a mask to keep the patient's airway open and ease breathing.

Gruis worked with the manufacturer, Philips Electronics, for modifications. If her research shows extended use, the company could see wider use of its product.

Because ALS makes breathing progressively more difficult, one study hopes to determine whether patients might do better if they received intermittent breathing assistance earlier in their disease course, rather than waiting until breathing muscles are weak.

The idea, said Gruis, is to see whether the earlier treatment helps improve patients' quality of life and level of fatigue, and whether it promotes longer survival.

The second study targets patients who are having trouble tolerating BiPAP treatment to help them breathe because exhaling against a current of air, which is part of standard therapy, is too difficult.

Patients will receive a "laptop ventilator" that can generate air pressure only when a patient is inhaling. The 20-pound device, about the size of a laptop computer, also can be adjusted to alter air pressures.

Gruis and her colleagues hope the study will show whether it can be more comfortable than standard BiPAP settings.

"The ultimate goal is to expand upon the current survival benefit and to expand treatment to more patients," Gruis said.

Computer gets involved

Another study, headed by Robert Welsh of the U-M Department of Radiology's basic science division, is mapping the brain for a potential brain-computer interface that could allow ALS patients to communicate better.

The research could eventually lead to commercialization of interfaces or ALS patients and spinal cord injury patients.

Many in advanced stages of ALS communicate through computer systems that rely on eye movements or tiny muscle movements in the face, but such systems are only useful as long as those muscles can move.

The idea of tapping directly into the brain's cortex with a computer-controlling device is promising, Gruis said.

Researchers hope to have an interface solution within a year for ALS patients to try.

Contact Gary Gosselin at (248) 374-4914.



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