3D printing to treat spinal cord injuries

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, have successfully treated rats with spinal cord injuries using 3D printing. Their research offers hope for people with the same injury.

3D printing to help heal spinal cord injuries

The Researchers from San Diego School of Medicine and Institute of Engineering developed a technique using 3D printing to build scaffolding around which stem cells can be implanted. Indeed, this technique proved to be successful in helping rats regain significant motor control in their hind legs.

The 3D printed implants contain dozens of tiny channels, just 200 micrometers wide (twice the width of human hair) which guide neural stem cells and axon growth along the spinal cord injuries. The scaffold mimics central nervous system structures. The implants, themselves only two millimetres are what will restore connections and lost function. Once the implants grafted, results quickly followed a few months later. New spinal cord tissue had regrown completely across the injury and connected the severed ends of the rat’s spinal cord.