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Internalization of a Nerve Lengthening Device
Spring 2019 MAE 156B
University of California at San Diego
Project Sponsored by Dr. Sameer Shah at UCSD MED School
Background:
This project's main focus is to modify an existing nerve lengthening device in order to make it fully internalized into the patient's body. Currently, there is a great push for a method that is able to adapt the end-to-end repair of nerves for more serious/long distances nerve injuries. This type of repair is widely considered to be the most effective/reliable method to repair a nerve but currently, it is limited to small injuries. However, using this new nerve lengthening technology, envisioned by Dr. Sameer Shah, the nerve will be able to be slowly stretched during a long period of time (~2 weeks and 2 mm/day of stretch); hence allowing it to be repaired in an end-to-end fashion. The current device has an actuation system that is controlled by a controller box that is outside the subject's body and has wires sticking out which lead to all sorts of problems for the operation; the team's Spring 2019 project revolves then in internalizing this device
Objectives:
The main objective of this project as a whole is to stretch the nerve in a controlled manner in order to perform its repair. In the previous quarters, this project was carried on by other students and has progressed into a full working device, but this device still has pieces that are external to the subject's body. Hence the focus for this quarter's group is to adopt this device so that it can be totally internalized in a patient's body for the entire duration of the procedure.