New approach discovered for repairing spinal cord injuryRSS Feed

Researchers at Purdue University in the US have discovered a new approach for repairing damaged nerve fibres in spinal cord injuries using nano-spheres that could be injected into the blood shortly after an accident.

The synthetic "copolymer micelles" are drug-delivery spheres roughly 100 times smaller than the diameter of a red blood cell.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, most injuries to the spinal cord do not completely sever it, instead, an injury is more likely to cause fractures and compression of the vertebrae, which then crush and destroy axons - fibres that transmit electrical impulses in the spinal cord.

Research showed that micelles repair damaged axons.

"That was a very surprising discovery," said Ji-Xin Cheng, an associate professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Chemistry.

"Micelles have been used for 30 years as drug-delivery vehicles in research, but no one has ever used them directly as a medicine," he added.

Serious Law, leading spinal cord injury solicitors

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