# Mechanisms of Action of Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation for Chronic Pain

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $38,790

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The goal of this study is to elucidate the mechanisms of action of dorsal root ganglion stimulation
(DRGS) for chronic pain. Chronic pain affects approximately 100 million Americans, and accounts for more
than 600 billion dollars in healthcare costs each year. DRGS is an FDA-approved neurostimulation therapy for
chronic pain that is refractory to conventional medical management. Although some patients receive sufficient
pain relief in response to DRGS, clinical outcomes are often inconsistent. This variation in pain relief across
patients may be due to poor understanding of the physiological mechanisms governing stimulation-induced
pain relief. Therefore, we seek to uncover these mechanisms to ultimately optimize DRGS and improve clinical
outcomes. This study is driven by previous computer modeling results from our lab showing that within
stimulation parameter ranges used clinically, DRGS is likely driving the activity of large myelinated sensory
neurons. In this proposed study, we will further investigate these mechanisms using computational models to
determine sources of interpatient variability in DRGS outcomes. Furthermore, we will validate these models
using clinical electrophysiological data, and inform the cellular anatomy of our models using histological data.
We hypothesize that electrode location will be the largest source of variability in DRGS outcomes, and that
positive DRGS outcomes will predict predominant activation of large myelinated sensory neurons. This project
aims to characterize the mechanisms of action of DRGS to improve the implementation and outcomes of the
therapy, and the models resulting from this project could be used to systematically design and test novel
stimulation technologies (e.g. electrode and waveform design).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9989976
- **Project number:** 1F31NS113407-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR
- **Principal Investigator:** Robert Dwight Graham
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $38,790
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9989976

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9989976, Mechanisms of Action of Dorsal Root Ganglion Stimulation for Chronic Pain (1F31NS113407-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9989976. Licensed CC0.

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