CALGARY -- Thanks in part to a University of Calgary doctor, advancements have been made to improve the quality of life of those with spinal cord injuries.

Dr. Aaron Phillips, at the U of C’s Cumming School of Medicine co-led an international study with Grégoire Courtine, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, that has shown spinal cord stimulators can bridge the body’s autonomous regulation system, meaning that blood pressure can be controlled without medication.

Phillips says one of the biggest motivating factors for him wanting to get involved with this kind of research and development was a friend in his life who had a cervical spinal cord injury.

“He had the physical disability that we all see, but part of the conversations that we had just as friends was, how severe all of his kind of cardiovascular dysfunction was,” Phillips said. “Years of being friends with someone and realizing there's not a lot of solutions in this place kind of inspired me to focus my life with science and discovery into solving that problem.”

Their work produced a neurostimulation system that is dedicated to the management of blood pressure in people with spinal cord injuries. They worked with a company called Onward to engineer and develop clinical grade implants.

Dr. Richi Gill, who broke his neck three years ago in an accident while on vacation with his family, was the first study participant in Phillips and Courtine’s clinical trials.

“It’s exciting to see the science help push things forward,” said Gill in a release from U of C. “I’m excited that Calgary will be one of the sites for a clinical trial. Research made a positive effect on my life and I’m glad others will benefit, too.”

Phillips says that the application of this technology can go beyond just that of blood management.

“So, all the things that you and I take for granted are very important to people with spinal cord injury, so they don't really stay up at night, thinking about their lack of mobility, they think about autonomic, unconscious kind of bodily functions that are lost.

“We are repurposing this technology to kind of try and improve all of those things? And some of the major ones are temperature regulation, bladder function, bowel function, sexual function.”

There will be a clinical trial in Calgary focusing on people with cervical spinal cord injuries and Phillips is currently working with Health Canada to get that underway.

“The bigger part of the story is that we’re aiming in the next two to three years to have this approved in Canada for everyone, so you don’t need to participate in a clinical trial, you just go and get this therapy as part of your standard health care,” Phillips said.

Phillips also sees this technology as having the potential to reduce the risk of heart disease or strokes and will be able to determine this through the upcoming trial.

“We are monitoring biomarkers that are predictive of cardiovascular disease, so we will be able to detect very accurately a reduction in heart disease and stroke risk,” he said.

The trials and research recently have received support from the U.S. military research organization, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

“We're launching into this series of clinical trials, with the support of one of the biggest research organizations in the world. having their support in their belief in what we're doing is definitely a very strong sign that the work you're doing is some of the best in the world.”