Nerve Regeneration

Nerve cells naturally possess a limited ability to regenerate damaged axons. This area of research focuses on engineering novel methods for controlling and stimulating axon growth along conductive scaffolds and nerve conduits. These functional, 3D conduits have been developed to support nerve growth using biocompatible, natural and synthetic composite polymers that subsequently degrade naturally over time. More recently, our research efforts have focused on the application of electrical stimulation in combination with these 3-D scaffolds. Electrical stimulation has been utilized to mimic the endogenous electric potential of the human nervous system to enhance axon regeneration and control aspects of neural cell behavior.