Autologous, Bioengineered, Scaffold-free Nerve Conduit for Peripheral Nerve Repair (original) (raw)

Abstract

Background: Autologous nerve is the gold standard for bridging gaps in nerve repair, but has several drawbacks including the limited number of donor nerves and harvest site morbidity. Synthetic or autologous guidance tubes have failed to reach autograft quality regeneration except for sensory nerves with small gaps (<3cm). Synthetic and autologous tubes' failure has been linked to low density of supporting cells, such as Schwann cells (SC), and the lack of longitudinally-oriented structural features. As a result, tissue engineering has emerged as a promising alternative. Method: A bioengineered nerve conduit was created using a novel tissue engineering technology, namely bioprinting. Constructs were composed of SC and bone marrow stem cells (BMSC) were added for their adherence qualities and implications in chronic pain treatment. No scaffold was used. Cylindrical bio-ink units are stacked according to a computer script. The construct matures for 10 days post-printing to allo...

Francoise Marga hasn't uploaded this paper.

Let Francoise know you want this paper to be uploaded.

Ask for this paper to be uploaded.