NGC technique could boost nerve injury recovery rates

Sheffield University engineers working in collaboration with German-based company Laser Zentrum Hannover have created a method that could help naturally repair damaged nerves.

The team outlined a new method for creating medical devices known as nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) in the journal Biofabrication.

The method, based on a principle known as ‘laser direct writing’, enables the fabrication of complex structures from computer files via the use of CAD/CAM (computer aided design/manufacturing), and has allowed the research team to manufacture NGCs with a much higher resolution than previously possible.

Lead author Frederick Claeyssens told The Engineer that the 3D structures produced with the new technique resemble a series of tubes assembled in a honeycomb lattice structure. ‘In its simplest form the aim of these tubes is to help bridge gaps in the peripheral nervous system,’ he said.

The structures are made from a biodegradable synthetic polymer material based on polylactic acid and have been designed to guide damaged nerves to re-grow through a number of small channels.