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University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Theses and Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

2016

PDMS

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Repair Severed Nerve Connections Through A Multi-Branch Microchannel Scaffold To Control The Direction Of The Regenerated Nerve, Luis Enrique Castanuela Ramon Aug 2016

Repair Severed Nerve Connections Through A Multi-Branch Microchannel Scaffold To Control The Direction Of The Regenerated Nerve, Luis Enrique Castanuela Ramon

Theses and Dissertations

Damage to the peripheral nervous system may result in functional abnormalities due to disrupted nerve connections. Existing methods of repairing severed nerve connections in the peripheral nervous system have limitations and disadvantages such as a limited availability of donor nerves and a lack of control of the direction of nerve regeneration within nerve conduits. A handcrafted multi-branch microchannel scaffold improves upon the current methods of nerve repair by incorporating microchannels, which guide and accommodate the nerve regeneration to distal ends, allowing for the treatment of nerve injuries involving multiple branches with fewer surgeries. This scaffold is also made more accessible …


Microwire Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces With Wireless Recording And Stimulation Capabilities, Ali Ajam May 2016

Microwire Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interfaces With Wireless Recording And Stimulation Capabilities, Ali Ajam

Theses and Dissertations

A scalable microwire peripheral nerve interface was developed, which interacted with regenerated peripheral nerves in microchannel scaffolds. Neural interface technologies are envisioned to facilitate direct connections between the nervous system and external technologies such as limb prosthetics or data acquisition systems for further processing. Presented here is an animal study using a handcrafted microwire regenerative peripheral nerve interface, a novel neural interface device for communicating with peripheral nerves. The neural interface studies using animal models are crucial in the evaluation of efficacy and safety of implantable medical devices before their use in clinical studies.16-electrode microwire microchannel scaffolds were developed for …