Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study

Soshi Samejima; Claire Shackleton; Raza N. Malik; Ali Hosseinzadeh; Lucas Rempel; Anh Duong Phan; Alison Williams; Tom Nightingale; Amandeep Ghuman; Stacy Elliott; Matthias Walter; Klaus Krogh; Michael Berger; Tania Lam; Rahul Sachdeva; Andrei V. Krassioukov

doi:10.1186/s42234-025-00183-8

Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study

Soshi Samejima^*
, Claire Shackleton
, Raza N. Malik
, Ali Hosseinzadeh
, Lucas Rempel
, Anh Duong Phan
, Alison Williams
, Tom Nightingale
, Amandeep Ghuman
, Stacy Elliott
, Matthias Walter
, Klaus Krogh
, Michael Berger
, Tania Lam
, Rahul Sachdeva
, Andrei V. Krassioukov^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Clinical Medicine - Hepatology and Gastroenterology

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs sensorimotor and autonomic functions. We investigated the effects of lumbosacral transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) on urinary bladder, bowel, and sexual function as well as cardiovascular and sensorimotor functions in one individual with chronic clinically motor-complete cervical SCI, 11 years post-injury. Following 30 sessions of lumbosacral tSCS, the individual presented with improved urinary bladder compliance as well as anorectal function in parallel with mitigation of the severity of autonomic dysreflexia during filling cystometry and anorectal manometry. In addition, long-term tSCS improved erectile function and sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, after long-term tSCS, concurrent tSCS enabled voluntary leg movement. This case study demonstrated the multi-system benefits of lumbosacral tSCS, which holds promise for evolving into a clinically viable therapy for restoring both autonomic and motor functions following SCI.

Original language	English
Article number	20
Journal	Bioelectronic Medicine
Volume	11
Issue	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/s42234-025-00183-8
Publication status	Published - Dec 2025

Keywords

Autonomic dysfunction
Motor function
Spinal cord injury
Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation

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Samejima, S., Shackleton, C., Malik, R. N., Hosseinzadeh, A., Rempel, L., Phan, A. D., Williams, A., Nightingale, T., Ghuman, A., Elliott, S., Walter, M., Krogh, K., Berger, M., Lam, T., Sachdeva, R., & Krassioukov, A. V. (2025). Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study. Bioelectronic Medicine, 11(1), Article 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42234-025-00183-8

@article{a9ea4fe3cc5946e1aa0b0e7c70be8fc4,

title = "Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study",

abstract = "Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs sensorimotor and autonomic functions. We investigated the effects of lumbosacral transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) on urinary bladder, bowel, and sexual function as well as cardiovascular and sensorimotor functions in one individual with chronic clinically motor-complete cervical SCI, 11 years post-injury. Following 30 sessions of lumbosacral tSCS, the individual presented with improved urinary bladder compliance as well as anorectal function in parallel with mitigation of the severity of autonomic dysreflexia during filling cystometry and anorectal manometry. In addition, long-term tSCS improved erectile function and sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, after long-term tSCS, concurrent tSCS enabled voluntary leg movement. This case study demonstrated the multi-system benefits of lumbosacral tSCS, which holds promise for evolving into a clinically viable therapy for restoring both autonomic and motor functions following SCI.",

keywords = "Autonomic dysfunction, Motor function, Spinal cord injury, Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation",

author = "Soshi Samejima and Claire Shackleton and Malik, \{Raza N.\} and Ali Hosseinzadeh and Lucas Rempel and Phan, \{Anh Duong\} and Alison Williams and Tom Nightingale and Amandeep Ghuman and Stacy Elliott and Matthias Walter and Klaus Krogh and Michael Berger and Tania Lam and Rahul Sachdeva and Krassioukov, \{Andrei V.\}",

year = "2025",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1186/s42234-025-00183-8",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

journal = "Bioelectronic Medicine",

issn = "2332-8886",

publisher = "BioMed Central",

number = "1",

}

Samejima, S, Shackleton, C, Malik, RN, Hosseinzadeh, A, Rempel, L, Phan, AD, Williams, A, Nightingale, T, Ghuman, A, Elliott, S, Walter, M, Krogh, K, Berger, M, Lam, T, Sachdeva, R & Krassioukov, AV 2025, 'Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study', Bioelectronic Medicine, vol. 11, no. 1, 20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42234-025-00183-8

Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study. / Samejima, Soshi; Shackleton, Claire; Malik, Raza N. et al.
In: Bioelectronic Medicine, Vol. 11, No. 1, 20, 12.2025.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

TY - JOUR

T1 - Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury

T2 - a case study

AU - Samejima, Soshi

AU - Shackleton, Claire

AU - Malik, Raza N.

AU - Hosseinzadeh, Ali

AU - Rempel, Lucas

AU - Phan, Anh Duong

AU - Williams, Alison

AU - Nightingale, Tom

AU - Ghuman, Amandeep

AU - Elliott, Stacy

AU - Walter, Matthias

AU - Krogh, Klaus

AU - Berger, Michael

AU - Lam, Tania

AU - Sachdeva, Rahul

AU - Krassioukov, Andrei V.

PY - 2025/12

Y1 - 2025/12

N2 - Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs sensorimotor and autonomic functions. We investigated the effects of lumbosacral transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) on urinary bladder, bowel, and sexual function as well as cardiovascular and sensorimotor functions in one individual with chronic clinically motor-complete cervical SCI, 11 years post-injury. Following 30 sessions of lumbosacral tSCS, the individual presented with improved urinary bladder compliance as well as anorectal function in parallel with mitigation of the severity of autonomic dysreflexia during filling cystometry and anorectal manometry. In addition, long-term tSCS improved erectile function and sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, after long-term tSCS, concurrent tSCS enabled voluntary leg movement. This case study demonstrated the multi-system benefits of lumbosacral tSCS, which holds promise for evolving into a clinically viable therapy for restoring both autonomic and motor functions following SCI.

AB - Cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) impairs sensorimotor and autonomic functions. We investigated the effects of lumbosacral transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation (tSCS) on urinary bladder, bowel, and sexual function as well as cardiovascular and sensorimotor functions in one individual with chronic clinically motor-complete cervical SCI, 11 years post-injury. Following 30 sessions of lumbosacral tSCS, the individual presented with improved urinary bladder compliance as well as anorectal function in parallel with mitigation of the severity of autonomic dysreflexia during filling cystometry and anorectal manometry. In addition, long-term tSCS improved erectile function and sexual satisfaction. Furthermore, after long-term tSCS, concurrent tSCS enabled voluntary leg movement. This case study demonstrated the multi-system benefits of lumbosacral tSCS, which holds promise for evolving into a clinically viable therapy for restoring both autonomic and motor functions following SCI.

KW - Autonomic dysfunction

KW - Motor function

KW - Spinal cord injury

KW - Transcutaneous spinal cord stimulation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105015075498

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DO - 10.1186/s42234-025-00183-8

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 40908490

AN - SCOPUS:105015075498

SN - 2332-8886

VL - 11

JO - Bioelectronic Medicine

JF - Bioelectronic Medicine

IS - 1

M1 - 20

ER -

Multi-system benefits of non-invasive spinal cord stimulation following cervical spinal cord injury: a case study

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