Stretching Science: New Technique May Help Regrow Damaged Nerves [1]

(editor's note: In my daily treks through the news files of the world I'm amazed at the depth and scope of emerging science technologies! In the bigger picture of our changing world, we understand that these are stepping stones towards joining our Galactic community of scientists.

~All my Love, Boo)

New Technique May Help Severely Damaged Nerves Regrow and Restore Function

Engineers at the University of Sheffield have developed a method of assisting nerves damaged by traumatic accidents to repair naturally, which could improve the chances of restoring sensation and movement in injured limbs.

"If successful we anticipate these scaffolds will not just be applicable to peripheral nerve injury, but could also be developed for other types of nerve damage too. The technique of laser direct writing may ultimately allow production of scaffolds that could help in the treatment of spinal cord injury" said Dr Claeyssens.

"What's exciting about this work is that not only have we designed a new method for making nerve guide scaffolds which support nerve growth, we´ve also developed a method of easily reproducing them through micromolding.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120422232409.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29 [2]