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<\/p>\nScientists at the University of Oxford are leading a new project aimed at developing treatments for chronic pain.<\/p>\n
The university said the six-year, \u00a311m programme would combine engineering and neuroscience expertise to “transform how chronic pain is managed”.<\/p>\n
Through the project, the “world-leading” team hope to produce new technologies to tackle the pains – including a new brain implant.<\/p>\n
In the UK, about 28 million people are thought to be affected by chronic pain – with the condition costing the NHS millions of pounds each year.<\/p>\n
The Effective Pain Interventions with Neural Engineering (EPIONE) scheme will attempt to target the brain’s pain network.<\/p>\n
It will recognise chronic pain as a disease of the nervous system, which is often caused by errors in how the brain processes signals during injuries or illnesses.<\/p>\n
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The EPIONE research team is made up of “world-renowned experts” [University of Oxford]<\/p>\n
Through the project, researchers “expect to deliver several world-first technologies” including a brain implant that can sense and respond to pain signals in real time.<\/p>\n
An implantable drug delivery system, which automatically adjusts medication based on a patient’s needs, is also expected to be produced.<\/p>\n
Prof Tim Denison, who is co-leading the project, said all of those involved were “world-renowned experts in their own field”.<\/p>\n
“The programme is unique in bringing this level of expertise to work together closely on such a highly integrated project,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We are including people with the lived experience of chronic pain to co-develop our technologies and research methods.”<\/p>\n
He said economics was “also a factor” in development, adding: “We want to ensure our technologies are viable for the NHS and beyond.”<\/p>\n
The University of Cambridge, University of Glasgow, and University College London are also involved in the project.<\/p>\n
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