Spinal cord conduits for spinal cord injury regeneration

Abstract

Spinal cord injury (SCI), which causes irreversible damage in both sensory and motor function, is considered an insurmountable challenge in the field of medicine. The previous researchers have developed many kinds of biomaterials for SCI, and spinal cord conduits (SCCs) are an important classification for bridging spinal cord tissues while performing their corresponding functions. In this review, we first describe the original sources of the different polymers that determine the properties of the different SCCs. Afterwards, we focus on the different types of crosslinking methods used for preparing SCCs. Then, various practical applications and therapeutic effects of SCCs are summarized and discussed. Finally, we conclude the existing limitations of current SCCs. We hope that this paper will serve as a further inspiration for the development of SCCs in future.

Keywords

• Spinal cord injury
• Neuron regeneration
• Hydrogel
• Spinal cord conduit
• Tissue engineering