Conducting Biomaterials for Nerve Regeneration

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DESCRIPTION: Clinical studies have shown that electrical stimulation can accelerate the healing of bone fractures, superficial wounds, and nerve damage. The development of conducting biomaterials that can be used to deliver electric stimuli to cultured cells is, therefore, of great interest. Polypyrrole is a an electronic conducting polymer that has been demonstrated to support growth and differentiation of neurons in vitro and to favor the in vivo regeneration of damaged peripheral nerves in rats. Polypyrrole has promising applications in tissue engineering, but is insoluble and infusible and, therefore, very difficult to process. This considerably limits its practical applications. The objective of this project is to develop biocompatible and resorbable conducting biomaterials based on polypyrrole for tissue engineering applications that are processable from solution. The new materials will be used to coat the guidance channels used for repairing peripheral nerve injuries and will be tested as supports for neuron regeneration in vitro and in vivo. TDA's material promises to have the same surface and electrical properties of polypyrrole, yet will be soluble in water or common organic solvents and, therefore, easily formable into thin films or other complex shapes. TDA's polymer will be completely biodegradable and have better mechanical properties than polypyrrole. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: TDA's electrically conducting and resorbable biomaterials will be used as a coating on the inside surface of nerve guidance channels to stimulate neuron growth and nerve repair. TDA's biomaterials may find use in other tissue engineering applications including as a scaffold for epithelial cells and as a bone substitute. TDA's soluble conducting polymer could also have non-biomedical applications as an antistatic material, for EMI-shielding, in electronic components and radar-absorbing materials.