Regrowing Nerve Cells on Computer Chips

Nov 2008 - The Western Canada Regeneration Initiative, with members from the universities of Calgary, Alberta and Saskatchewan, was awarded a $2.25 million team grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to study how best to heal and regrow nerves that have been damaged by injury or disease.

The team includes brain surgeons, electrical engineers, neurologists, and neuroscience researchers. "If we generate electrical signals on a microchip, we can guide nerve cells sitting on that chip to grow and connect along specific pathways. Our dream is to bypass scar tissue and put nerve communication back on track. That would mean a new life for people with brain or spinal cord injuries.” said Naweed Syed, PhD, professor and head of cell biology & anatomy, and research director, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary Faculty of Medicine.

This initiative is founded upon the marriage of nerve cells to microchip technology. The team’s research is aimed at creating a tube-shaped microchip designed to send out electrical signals to encourage nerve fibers to grow together and connect to one another. “At present, we have regeneration tubes that we implant for people who have suffered traumatic injuries. But these tubes are, at best, a passive bridge between nerve endings,” says Dr. Doug Zochodne, professor of neurosciences and neurologist, UCalgary Faculty of Medicine. “Often, our repair strategies are only partly successful, and people experience neuropathic pain as a major side-effect.”

“The expertise we have gathered is considerable,” says Zochodne. “We are building upon the scientific and clinical discoveries already made by the members of our team. Our ultimate goal is to undertake clinical trials, and offer some real hope for people who are suffering with untreatable nerve damage.”