Maria Fest

Phagenesis is developing a device for the treatment for dysphagia, the inability to swallow safely, that often accompanies stroke or other neuro-deficit diseases. The approach is to harness the brain's own capacity for relearning functions that have been lost through brain damage (via "neuroplasticity" or "corticalremapping"). Focusing initially on the care of stroke patients as they recover in hospital (acute care), Prof Shaheen Hamdy of the University of Manchester, UK, painstakingly devised a method of delivering electrical signals from the pharynx (throat) along nerve cells directly to the relevant parts of the brain. The results of his work have been published in top peer-reviewed scientific and medical journals, including The Lancet, the Nature group of publications, and Gastroenterology.