Mice walk again after fixing the spinal cord with 3D printing

The study was published recently in Advanced healthcare materialsThe scientific magazine, which the peers reviewed.

According to the statistical center for spinal cord injury, more than 300,000 people in the United States suffer from spinal cord injuries, yet there is no way to completely reflect the damage and paralysis. One of the main challenges is the death of nerve cells and the inability of nerve fibers to grow through the site of the injury. This new research deals with this problem face to face.

This method includes creating a unique 3D working frame for organs planted with the laboratory, called an organic scaffold, with microscopic channels. Then these channels are filled with specified spinal nerve predecessors at the regional level (SNPCS), which are cells derived from human stem cells that have the ability to divide and distinguish into specific types of mature cells.

“We use 3D channels printed for the scaffold to direct stem cell growth, which ensures that new nerve fibers grow in the required way,” said Jobom Han, a former mechanical engineering researcher at Minnesota University. “This method creates a deportation system when placed in the spinal cord that exceeds the damaged area.”

In their studies, researchers planted these scaffolding in mice with the perfectly cut. The cells successfully varied in nerve cells and extend their neurons in both directions – transmitted (towards the head) and the (towards the tail) – to form new contacts with the current nerve circles of the host.

New neurons are inclusive smoothly into host spinal spinal tissues over time, which leads to a large functional recovery in mice.

“The renewal medicine has led to a new era in spinal cord injury research,” said Ann Bar, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota. “Our laboratory is excited to explore the future capabilities of” small spinal cords “for clinical translation.”

While researching in its early stages, it provides a new way of hope for those who suffer from spinal cord injuries. The team hopes to increase production and continue to develop this mix of technologies for future clinical applications.

In addition to Han and Parr, the team Hyunjun Kim and Michael Mcalpine included the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota; Nicholas S. Lavoi, Nanandevi Patel and Olivia J. Corvefeld from the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota; Manuel Isgora from the Department of Neurology at the University of Minnesota; And Daeha Joung from the Department of Physics at the University of Virginia Community.

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the infection of the spinal cord in Minnesota, the painful brain injury research program and the spinal cord association.

Read the full paper entitled, “3D printed scourges enhance the formation of the augmented spine for use in the spinal cord injury” on the advanced healthcare material site.