NanoNerve Inc is developing a synthetic graft intended to guide neurons across gaps and restore lost connections in nerves serving limbs and other parts of the peripheral nervous system. The new device, a flexible conduit resembling a slender white straw, could be used to create a miniature scaffold for growing cells that has the possibly of helping patients regenerate severed nerves in their arms and legs. In the United States alone, an estimated 800,000 people a year experience peripheral nerve injuries that require surgery and that can lead to a loss of sensation and movement. The graft is composed of a polymer similar to the material used in surgical sutures that has been engineered so the fibers are aligned in the same direction. The aligned nanofibers appear to dramatically influence the growth of cells. In lab tests, nerve tissue cultured on unaligned fibers showed little organized growth while neurons on aligned material extended along the precise pattern of the fibers. Current options for treating severed peripheral nerves have limitations. One approach calls for sacrificing another nerve, often a sensory nerve from the leg, to replace the damaged one. This involves additional surgery with potential complications and some patients donât have suitable nerves to donate. Synthetic grafts are available, but these are not able to guide cell growth; only bridge narrow gaps ranging from 5 millimeters to 3 centimeters long. Along with the discovery that the aligned fibers guide neurons, the nanofibers growth could be sped up using bioactive molecules such as proteins or polysaccharides.
