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Public release date: 18 September 2009
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Biomaterial gel for treating spinal cord injury
Research study at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center has shown injecting
biomaterial gel into a spinal cord injury site provides significantly improved healing. The project that also included
researchers from Purdue University and Arizona State University indicates that a "practical path" to treatment may be
found for spinal injury patients.
The study found that injection of an engineered hydrogel made up mainly of hyaluronic acid (a naturally-occurring body
substance) into the spinal cord injury site decreases scarring and promotes a realignment of the spinal cord fibers
around the injury site.
The hyaluronic acid which forms a scaffold-like configuration may help to structurally stabilize the spinal cord injury site. Tracing of cells in the brain stem after injury showed much higher levels in the hydrogel treated animals compared to animals which did not receive the treatment, and approached nearly normal levels. Treated animals had higher functional scores than non-treated animals.
The work was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in San Diego where it
won the Synthes Prize for Spine Research.
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