Invent Hydrogel That Repairs Nerve Damage
Not as much is known about nerves and the brain as about bones and muscles, but great steps are being taken to change the picture in a few decades.
We now read in research published in the journal ACS NANO that a team of doctors and engineers from Nanjing University has developed a new hydrogel that, they say, could repair nerve damage faster and more reliably than any other method.
We’re talking about a water-saturated, porous material that can stretch, bend and propagate neural signals. They’ve tested it on animals, and the hydrogel restored lost body function and helped the animals heal faster. They think it might work with human medicine, too.
The problem we have when we damage a nerve is that bioelectric signals sent to and from the brain can get blocked or lost along the way. The consequences are varied, from pain to loss of movement or numbness. If the nerve is damaged, the problem may be permanent, requiring treatment or repair.
To replace or repair the damaged nerve, doctors take one from another part of the body, or an artificial one is used. Recovery in this form is long and often painful.
The idea is to use hydrogel to restore it, and with rats and toads with nerve lesions it has taken only weeks to recover.
They even believe that this healing factor could accelerate further, as the hydrogel becomes even better at driving electricity when hit by infrared light.
Now «only» we have to test it with humans.
