American Society for Peripheral Nerve

Back to 2015 Annual Meeting Program


In vitro Model Evaluating Novel Nerve Allograft Seeding Techniques
Matthew J. Thompson, MD; Jonathan Isaacs, MD; William Daner, MD; Satya Mallu, MD
Division of Hand Surgery, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

The tissue processing necessary to remove immunogenic components of human nerve allograft also renders the graft acellular. While seeding the allograft with appropriately supportive cells may improve nerve axon regeneration, little has been done to elucidate the best method for physically implanting these cells into the allograft.

Using an in vitro model of fluorescent beads representing cells in solution, bead penetration and distribution into acellular nerve allograft was measured following hypodermic needle injection verses soaking in "solution" after micropuncture of the allograft surface under both normal and pressurized scenarios..

Significant differences in bead dispersal suggest that soaking resulted in a more even distribution and a greater percentage of beads implanted in the allograft periphery.

The potentially positive neurosupportive cell survival and proliferation implications of this distribution pattern warrant formal in vivo testing of these seeding methods.


Back to 2015 Annual Meeting Program