Bioelectronics in healthcare is a novel and interesting idea. A rough translation of the bioelectronics can be a gatekeeper, a multilingual translator, an air traffic controller, and a bouncer in your nervous system that can modulate and redirect signals from the brain and the rest of your nervous system to other systems and organs in your body and course-correct the signals heading the wrong way or behaving erratically along the way.
A relatively new scientific field that could one day result in a new class of medicines that would not be pills or injections but miniaturized, implantable devices is being pursued by GSK’s Bioelectronics R&D unit. These devices could be programmed to read and correct the electrical signals that pass along the nerves of the body as per GSK’s belief. These signals include irregular or altered impulses that can occur in association with a broad range of diseases. Disorders as diverse as inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, asthma, hypertension, and diabetes could be treated can hopefully be treated through these devices.
Five years ago, bioelectronics medicine was barely even a concept but now shows huge potential to treat a vast array of different diseases. The research is headlined by GSK’s Dr Daniel Chew who is working to develop a tiny implant that could read and alter electrical signals that pass along nerves in the body and help control illness.
