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  • Nunamaker, Elizabeth A.; Spearman, Benjamin S.; Graham, James B.; Atkinson, Eric W.; Desai, Vidhi H.; Shafor, Chancellor S.; Natt, Sruthi; Wachs, Rebecca A.; Schmidt, Christine E.; Judy, Jack W.; Otto, Kevin J.

    2017 8th International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering (NER)
    Conference Proceeding

    Regenerative peripheral-nerve interfaces are a novel method for integrating with the peripheral nervous system. These devices have the potential to isolate and transduce both afferent (sensory) and efferent (motor) neural signals to produce fine control of advanced prosthetics. We have developed a novel regenerative device comprised of microfabricated polyimide electrode threads supported by a hydrogel scaffold containing methacrylated hyaluronic acid, collagen I, and laminin to enable intimate contact with regenerating axons. While this advanced device holds theoretical promise for establishing a stable chronic neural interface, it also requires a novel surgical approach in comparison to current existing methods of peripheral neural interface technologies. Here we describe the development of the surgical methodology required for successful chronic implantation of the TEENI device in the rat sciatic nerve.