Recent Strategies in Tissue Engineering for Guided Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Abstract

The repair of large crushed or sectioned segments of peripheral nerves remains a challenge in regenerative medicine due to the complexity of the biological environment and the lack of proper biomaterials and architecture to foster reconstruction. Traditionally such reconstruction is only achieved by using fresh human tissue as a surrogate for the absence of the nerve. However, recent focus in the field has been on new polymer structures and specific biofunctionalization to achieve the goal of peripheral nerve regeneration by developing artificial nerve prostheses. This review presents various tested approaches as well their effectiveness for nerve regrowth and functional recovery.

Keywords: bioengineering; biomaterials; peripheral nervous system; polymers; regenerative medicine.