Russian University Reports the Country's First Method for Repairing Nerve Defects

Researchers at Kuban State Medical University say they have developed Russia's first method for repairing damaged nerve tissue using biosynthetic materials — engineered materials that pair a manufactured structure with living cells. The work was carried out under the university's large-scale "Regenerative Medicine" project. The result was announced in a university statement rather than reported as a published study.

"A method has been developed to repair nerve defects using biosynthetic materials seeded with nerve tissue cells," said Professor Sergei Alekseenko, rector of Kuban State Medical University. "Currently, there are no registered domestic implants in Russia for repairing extensive nerve defects, which makes this development unique in this field." Seeding means the material is loaded with living nerve tissue cells before it is used.

The same project has also produced what the university describes as "artificial skin" — a material intended for treating extensive skin injuries and burns.

Alekseenko said the university has built a bioreactor for tissue regeneration research, a vessel that keeps living cells growing under controlled conditions. He added that unique samples of biological scaffolds for organs and tissues have been obtained using animal models. A scaffold is a support structure that cells can settle on and grow through as new tissue forms.

Another research direction at the university focuses on developing methods to advance regenerative medicine technologies.