Translating a novel synthetic polymer nerve conduit to human scale

Peripheral nerve injuries are a common occurrence, with approximately 9000 cases in the UK occurring each year, in a predominantly young and working population. Despite advances in microsurgical nerve repair techniques, functional recovery is often poor which can have a profound and permanent impact on the patient recovery and quality of life. Nerve repair has significant health, social and cost implications with the treatment and rehabilitation of an employed person, estimated to be EUR 51,238 (£44,500). The current method to repair a nerve gap is to graft a nerve taken from another area of the patient. This results in morbidity and second surgical procedure and there is limited donor nerve availability. This has prompted research on the use of bio-engineered nerve conduits, an artificial means of guiding axonal regeneration. However, all commercially available conduits to date have not been able to match the results of the current clinical technique, of reconstruction using nerve graft. This research proposal attempts to develop a solution for faster and improved quality of peripheral nerve repair using a specialised biodegradable nerve conduit. The conduit will be tested using cells derived from human adipose stem cells. Specifically, the novel conduit will be developed for human applications. The use of a bio-engineered conduit has the potential to transform outcomes of peripheral nerve injury. This research proposal will produce significant experimental data which will position the researchers to exploit the IP and generate an effective technology for translation into clinical practice.