eNerveGen – Peripheral nerve repair, a novel electroactive conduit

Peripheral nerve repair, a novel electroactive conduit

Chronic pain, sensory loss and problems with mobility are some of the overwhelming difficulties affecting the quality of life of patients who suffer peripheral nerve damage as result of trauma, disease or neurodegenerative disorders

Technology Overview:

This innovative technology provides an electrical pathway, mechanical support and biological cues for axon guidance, growth and nerve repair.

Technology:

The proposed technology is focussed on creating the next generation of advanced functional polymers for peripheral nerve repair.

What problems does it solve?

For injuries less than 1cm, end-to-end surgical reconnection is possible by suturing. However, with increasing gap length, suturing impedes functional regeneration due to tension in the nerve. At present, a range of xenografts, allografts, wraps and tubes are commercially available for nerve defects less than 3cm, many of which are made of collagen. The majority of these devices do not possess the optimal mechanical properties. With bespoke mechanical properties, eNerveGen can be used as an alternative to xenografts and resorbable polymer tubes as it provides mechanical support during the initial repair process.

While autografting remains the gold standard surgical intervention, it still requires a second surgical step, a limited supply of donor nerves, donor site morbidity and nerve mismatch at the injury site. With finely tuned electrical properties and biological cues, eNerveGen can be used as an off the shelf alternative one-step procedure to create a biomimetic environment to promote repair.

Features and benefits:

• One-step surgical procedure saves time and costs
• Biofunctional alternative to autografts, allografts and xenografts
• Available in a range of lengths and diameters
• Does not require rehydration before use
• Sterile
• Easy to handle
• Easy to suture
• Properties tailored to match native tissue
• Electroactive
• Biocompatible
• Biodegradable