Abstract
The objective of this work was to use a functional gait analysis technique to evaluate sciatic nerve repair through tissue-engineered nerve guides in a rodent animal model. The nerve guides were fabricated by blending collagen with chitosan material and evaluated over a 12-week period for motor and sensory nerve recovery assessed by gait analysis and behavioral testing. Gastrocnemius muscle weight measurements were obtained at the end of each experimental time point and correlated to motor nerve recovery. Functional gait analysis studied both the stance and swing phase angle formations during a normal gait cycle. During the stance phase, functional results revealed that blended nerve guides promoted increased motor nerve recovery than unblended chitosan nerve guides. Similar results were obtained from behavioral tests, indicating that blended nerve guides created increased sensitivity to applied stimulus compared to unblended nerve guides. Muscle strength also correlated with functional recovery and was significantly higher when compared to the unblended nerve guides. From this study, we conclude that collagen-blended chitosan nerve guides enhanced motor and sensory nerve recovery assayed through gait and behavioral testing compared to unblended nerve guides.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
