Imaging in the Repair of Peripheral Nerve Injury

Overview

Journal Nanomedicine (Lond)

Specialty Biotechnology

Date 2019 Oct 16

PMID 31612779

Citations 9

Authors

Igor D Luzhansky

Leland C Sudlow

David M Brogan

Matthew D Wood

Mikhail Y Berezin

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Surgical intervention followed by physical therapy remains the major way to repair damaged nerves and restore function. Imaging constitutes promising, yet underutilized, approaches to improve surgical and postoperative techniques. Dedicated methods for imaging nerve regeneration will potentially provide surgical guidance, enable recovery monitoring and postrepair intervention, elucidate failure mechanisms and optimize preclinical procedures. Herein, we present an outline of promising innovations in imaging-based tracking of peripheral nerve regeneration. We emphasize optical imaging because of its cost, versatility, relatively low toxicity and sensitivity. We discuss the use of targeted probes and contrast agents (small molecules and nanoparticles) to facilitate nerve regeneration imaging and the engineering of grafts that could be used to track nerve repair. We also discuss how new imaging methods might overcome the most significant challenges in nerve injury treatment.

Citing Articles

Fascicle differentiation of upper extremity nerves on high-resolution ultrasound with multimodal microscopic verification.

Pusnik L, Radochova B, Janacek J, Saudek F, Sersa I, Cvetko E Sci Rep. 2025; 15(1):557.

PMID: 39747626 PMC: 11696863. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-84396-y.

Interactions between Schwann cell and extracellular matrix in peripheral nerve regeneration.

Jiang M, Chen M, Liu N Front Neurol. 2024; 15:1372168.

PMID: 38651098 PMC: 11034552. DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1372168.

Updates in peripheral nerve surgery of the upper extremity: diagnosis and treatment options.

Tan R, Jeyaratnam S, Lim A Ann Transl Med. 2023; 11(11):391.

PMID: 37970602 PMC: 10632574. DOI: 10.21037/atm-23-1500.

Ultrasound Landmarks in the Approach to the Common Peroneal Nerve in a Sheep Model-Application in Peripheral Nerve Regeneration.

Alvites R, Lopes B, Sousa P, Sousa A, Coelho A, Moreira A Life (Basel). 2023; 13(9).

PMID: 37763322 PMC: 10533066. DOI: 10.3390/life13091919.

Experience with ultrasound neurography for postoperative evaluation of targeted muscle reinnervation.

Finkelstein E, Hui-Chou H, Fullerton N, Jose J Skeletal Radiol. 2023; 53(4):811-816.

PMID: 37665347 DOI: 10.1007/s00256-023-04441-1.

References

Situ-LaCasse E, Amini R, Bain V, Acuna J, Samsel K, Weaver C . Performance of Ultrasound-guided Peripheral Nerve Blocks by Medical Students After One-day Training Session. Cureus. 2019; 11(1):e3911. PMC: 6426578. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.3911. View

Wood M, Kemp S, Weber C, Borschel G, Gordon T . Outcome measures of peripheral nerve regeneration. Ann Anat. 2011; 193(4):321-33. DOI: 10.1016/j.aanat.2011.04.008. View

Park M, Hyun H, Ashitate Y, Wada H, Park G, Lee J . Prototype nerve-specific near-infrared fluorophores. Theranostics. 2014; 4(8):823-33. PMC: 4063980. DOI: 10.7150/thno.8696. View

Schain A, Hill R, Grutzendler J . Label-free in vivo imaging of myelinated axons in health and disease with spectral confocal reflectance microscopy. Nat Med. 2014; 20(4):443-9. PMC: 3981936. DOI: 10.1038/nm.3495. View

Hopkins T, Heilman A, Liggett J, LaSance K, Little K, Hom D . Combining micro-computed tomography with histology to analyze biomedical implants for peripheral nerve repair. J Neurosci Methods. 2015; 255:122-30. PMC: 4604061. DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.08.016. View

DSouza M, Jaimini A, Dhali T, Dsouza P, Saw S, Sharma R . 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in a case of malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor: An unusual presentation. Indian J Nucl Med. 2013; 28(3):168-70. PMC: 3822417. DOI: 10.4103/0972-3919.119551. View

Berezin M, Achilefu S . Fluorescence lifetime measurements and biological imaging. Chem Rev. 2010; 110(5):2641-84. PMC: 2924670. DOI: 10.1021/cr900343z. View

Bremer J, Skinner J, Granato M . A small molecule screen identifies in vivo modulators of peripheral nerve regeneration in zebrafish. PLoS One. 2017; 12(6):e0178854. PMC: 5456414. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0178854. View

Tseng T, Hsu S . Substrate-mediated nanoparticle/gene delivery to MSC spheroids and their applications in peripheral nerve regeneration. Biomaterials. 2014; 35(9):2630-41. DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.12.021. View

10.

Chang Y, Chen M, Liao S, Wu H, Kuan C, Sun J . Multichanneled Nerve Guidance Conduit with Spatial Gradients of Neurotrophic Factors and Oriented Nanotopography for Repairing the Peripheral Nervous System. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2017; 9(43):37623-37636. DOI: 10.1021/acsami.7b12567. View

11.

Hallam K, Donnelly E, Karpiouk A, Hartman R, Emelianov S . Laser-activated perfluorocarbon nanodroplets: a new tool for blood brain barrier opening. Biomed Opt Express. 2019; 9(9):4527-4538. PMC: 6157760. DOI: 10.1364/BOE.9.004527. View

12.

Ning L, Sun H, Lelong T, Guilloteau R, Zhu N, Schreyer D . 3D bioprinting of scaffolds with living Schwann cells for potential nerve tissue engineering applications. Biofabrication. 2018; 10(3):035014. DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/aacd30. View

13.

Rangavajla G, Mokarram N, Masoodzadehgan N, Pai S, Bellamkonda R . Noninvasive imaging of peripheral nerves. Cells Tissues Organs. 2015; 200(1):69-77. PMC: 4494672. DOI: 10.1159/000369451. View

14.

Akers W, Kim C, Berezin M, Guo K, Fuhrhop R, Lanza G . Noninvasive photoacoustic and fluorescence sentinel lymph node identification using dye-loaded perfluorocarbon nanoparticles. ACS Nano. 2010; 5(1):173-82. PMC: 3026895. DOI: 10.1021/nn102274q. View

15.

Li R, Phillips E, Wang P, Goergen C, Cheng J . Label-free in vivo imaging of peripheral nerve by multispectral photoacoustic tomography. J Biophotonics. 2015; 9(1-2):124-8. DOI: 10.1002/jbio.201500004. View

16.

Kang B, Austin L, El-Sayed M . Real-time molecular imaging throughout the entire cell cycle by targeted plasmonic-enhanced Rayleigh/Raman spectroscopy. Nano Lett. 2012; 12(10):5369-75. DOI: 10.1021/nl3027586. View

17.

Carvalho C, Silva-Correia J, Oliveira J, Reis R . Nanotechnology in peripheral nerve repair and reconstruction. Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 2019; 148:308-343. DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2019.01.006. View

18.

Jung Y, Ng J, Keating C, Senthil-Kumar P, Zhao J, Randolph M . Comprehensive evaluation of peripheral nerve regeneration in the acute healing phase using tissue clearing and optical microscopy in a rodent model. PLoS One. 2014; 9(4):e94054. PMC: 3979924. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0094054. View

19.

Bendszus M, Wessig C, Schutz A, Horn T, Kleinschnitz C, Sommer C . Assessment of nerve degeneration by gadofluorine M-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging. Ann Neurol. 2005; 57(3):388-95. DOI: 10.1002/ana.20404. View

20.

Tao J, Hu Y, Wang S, Zhang J, Liu X, Gou Z . A 3D-engineered porous conduit for peripheral nerve repair. Sci Rep. 2017; 7:46038. PMC: 5388843. DOI: 10.1038/srep46038. View