Nerve Repair Using a Bionic Conductive Scaffold Combined with Electrical Stimulation

Take an anesthetized rat with an exposed intact right sciatic nerve, which controls leg movement and sensation.

Excise a nerve segment, creating a gap, severing the neuronal axons, and disrupting signal transmission.

The severed distal axons deteriorate, detaching specialized nerve-repair or Schwann cells.

Suture a bionic conductive nerve scaffold, a soft tube with microchannels, to the epineurium, the nerve’s outer layer, at both cut ends.

Implant paired electrodes near the nerve ends, passing wires under the skin to the back of the neck.

Apply continuous electrical stimulation, delivering gentle pulses to the scaffold.

Schwann cells from the degenerating distal end migrate into the scaffold and align along the microchannels.

These cells release growth factors that stimulate axonal extension from the proximal end.

As axons extend, Schwann cells wrap them in a lipid-rich myelin membrane, restoring signal transmission.

This demonstrates the potential of the scaffold and electrical stimulation for nerve repair.