A team of scientists from the First Moscow State Medical University named after IM. Sechenov, of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, proposed repairing damaged nerves using conduits, which are small cylinders filled with nylon nanofibers. When placed inside such a cylinder on opposite sides, the ends of the severed nerve will grow in a certain direction and will be effectively ligated. socialbites.ca was told about this at Sechenov University.
Today in Russia there are no domestic implants for the restoration of peripheral nerves, and foreign analogues are expensive and ineffective. One of the advantages of the developed implant is the use of nylon nanofibers in its design. There is no such solution in the world.
“Nylon is a polymer widely used in medicine due to its biocompatibility and low toxicity. For example, it is actively used as a suture material when working with soft tissues in surgery. The channel filled with nylon nanofibers supports the active growth of nerve cells. It is also extremely stable during storage, is non-toxic and does not decompose in the body for the time required for regeneration,” explained Igor Kanev, senior researcher at the ITEB RAS Laboratory of Theranostics and Nuclear Medicine.
Nerve injuries occur frequently, for example due to a fall, unsuccessful surgery, cancer resection, or neurodegenerative disease. The result is motor or sensory dysfunction.
Cases where the length of the gap is more than 10 millimeters are especially difficult. In this case, nerve fibers cannot regenerate spontaneously. To get rid of the disease, doctors perform operations to replace the damaged nerve using otoneural inserts – these are the nerves of the person himself, taken from other parts of the body.
“Despite the developments in microsurgery technology, complete recovery of nerve functions cannot be achieved after surgical treatment. Additionally, in some serious injuries, it may be difficult to find a suitable nerve for the graft. The materials from which our implant is composed and its internal structure allow us to accurately direct the growth of nerve axons and create a protected microenvironment that enhances regeneration,” Mark Gabriyanchik of Levshin Sechenov University told socialbites.ca.
Today, developers are in talks with industrial partners and are also preparing to open a joint laboratory at Sechenov University. Scientists are confident that their implant will change the approach to treatment in neuroreconstruction and help patients recover after any nerve injury.
He was previously known to be at MSMU. Sechenov create The world’s first AI blood glucose meter for bloodless blood glucose measurement.