Scholars@Duke
Natasha Wilkins

Natasha Wilkins

Postdoctoral Associate
Biomedical Engineering

Selected Publications

Bladder Responses to Thoracolumbar Epidural Stimulation in Female Urethane-Anesthetized Rats with Graded Contusion Spinal Cord Injuries.

Journal Article Journal of neurotrauma · February 2025 Spinal cord epidural stimulation (scES) is a therapeutic option that promotes functional improvements in sensory, motor, and autonomic functions following spinal cord injury (SCI). Previous scES mapping studies targeting the lower urinary tract (LUT) in ra ... Full text Cite

Spinal cord epidural stimulation for male sexual function in spinal cord injured rats.

Journal Article The journal of sexual medicine · January 2025 Background95% of men with spinal cord injuries exhibit difficulties with sexual function, including erectile dysfunction, anejaculation, retrograde ejaculation, poor ejaculatory force, and poor sperm quality.AimThe primary goal is to dete ... Full text Cite

Mid-lumbar (L3) epidural stimulation effects on bladder and external urethral sphincter in non-injured and chronically transected urethane-anesthetized rats.

Journal Article Scientific reports · July 2023 Recent pre-clinical and clinical spinal cord epidural stimulation (scES) experiments specifically targeting the thoracolumbar and lumbosacral circuitries mediating lower urinary tract (LUT) function have shown improvements in storage, detrusor pressure, an ... Full text Cite

Relationships between spinal cord blood flow measured with flow-sensitive alternating inversion recovery (FAIR) and neurobehavioral outcomes in rat spinal cord injury.

Journal Article Magnetic resonance imaging · May 2021 In the traumatically injured spinal cord, decreased perfusion is believed to contribute to secondary tissue damage beyond the primary mechanical impact, and restoration of perfusion is believed to be a promising therapeutic target. However, methods to moni ... Full text Cite

Evolution of Magnetic Resonance Imaging as Predictors and Correlates of Functional Outcome after Spinal Cord Contusion Injury in the Rat.

Journal Article Journal of neurotrauma · March 2020 Clinical methods for determining the severity of traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) and long-term functional outcome in the acute setting are limited in their prognostic accuracy because of the heterogeneity of injury and dynamic injury progression. The ai ... Full text Cite

Longitudinal In Vivo Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Remote from the Lesion Site in Rat Spinal Cord Injury.

Journal Article Journal of neurotrauma · May 2019 Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has demonstrated success as a biomarker of spinal cord injury (SCI) severity as shown from numerous pre-clinical studies. However, artifacts from stabilization hardware at the lesion have precluded its use for longitudinal as ... Full text Cite

Characterization of Lumbar Spine Annular Disruption in PMHS Using MRI, Cryomicrotomy and Histology Techniques.

Journal Article Biomedical sciences instrumentation · January 2015 Internal intervertebral disc disruption is involved in the onset of a wide range of spinal dysfunction, ultimately affecting not only the disc itself but the surrounding osseous and neural structures as well. The ability of disc to withstand and effectivel ... Cite