This operation is intended to restore bladder function to people with spina bifida, a congenital defect that causes nerve damage and a loss of sensation and muscle function below the waist.

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"It has been hyped by the instrument makers, " says Johns Hopkins University urologist Patrick Walsh, renowned for inventing a nerve-sparing prostatectomy procedure that preserves sexual function.

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It is made in cells called glial cells, which are usually thought to function merely as insulation for more important nerve cells.

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He successfully returned to the game after treatment, but in May 2003 he was put on dialysis three times a week due to deterioration in his kidney function, with the treatment's side effects leaving him with severe nerve damage in his feet and legs.

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She said they were currently funding research into drugs that mimic the action of nerve growth factor (NGF), the name given to the gene therapy involving stimulating cell function.

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Some experts estimate that there are four billion devices connected to the internet but, according to researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine, a typical healthy human brain contains about 200 billion nerve cells, or neurons, linked to one another via hundreds of trillions of tiny contacts called synapses, that function like microprocessors.

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