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Custom 3-D printed implants heal spinal cord injuries in rats﻿﻿﻿﻿

With the help of a 3-D printed hydrogel implant, researchers have demonstrated that they can restore leg movement in rats with severe spinal cord injuries (Nat. Med. 2019, DOI: 10.1038/s41591-018-0296-z). Using a fast, light-based printing technique, the team tailored the implants to precisely fit a cut or tear in a spinal cord, guiding nerve cells to grow across the injury site and reestablish neural connection. Michael C. McAlpine, a mechanical engineer at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, says the printing method could be used with other implant designs. He is working on implants with cells directly printed into the scaffolds, which allows his team to place various types of cells exactly where they are needed for growth. The UCSD team is “focusing on anatomical accuracy,” he says. “In the future maybe the two approaches could be combined for even better results.”