MRI and Ultrasound Visualization of a Nerve Repair Implant Containing Nitinol.

Background: Nerve Tape is a novel nerve repair device containing nitinol microhooks that provide sutureless attachment for nerve coaptation. This study evaluated visualization of Nerve Tape on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound, with the objective of exploring its potential as an imaging marker for localizing nerve repair sites.

Methods: Phantom imaging experiments were first conducted to assess the visibility of Nerve Tape on MRI and ultrasound.

Efficacy of a Novel, Sutureless Coaptation Device for Repairing Peripheral Nerve Defects.

Although microsuture neurorrhaphy is the accepted clinical standard treatment for severed peripheral nerves, this technique requires microsurgical proficiency and still often fails to provide adequate nerve approximation for effective regeneration. Entubulation utilizing commercially available conduits may enhance the technical quality of the nerve coaptation and potentially provide a proregenerative microenvironment, but still requires precise suture placement. We developed a sutureless nerve coaptation device, Nerve Tape, that utilizes Nitinol microhooks embedded within a porcine small intestinal submucosa backing.

Biomechanical Testing of a Novel Device for Sutureless Nerve Repair.

Suboptimal nerve end alignment achieved with conventional nerve repair techniques may contribute to poor clinical outcomes. In this study, we introduce Nerve Tape, a novel nerve repair device that integrates flexible columns of Nitinol microhooks within a biologic backing to entubulate, align, and secure approximated nerve ends. This study compares the repair strength of Nerve Tape with that of conventional microsuture repairs.

East Indian Sandalwood Oil Is a Phosphodiesterase Inhibitor: A New Therapeutic Option in the Treatment of Inflammatory Skin Disease.

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterases (PDEs) regulate pro-inflammatory cytokine production. One isoform, PDE4, is overactive in chronic relapsing inflammatory skin diseases: psoriasis and eczema/atopic dermatitis, and in several cancers. East Indian sandalwood oil (EISO) has significant anti-inflammatory properties.

East Indian Sandalwood Oil (EISO) Alleviates Inflammatory and Proliferative Pathologies of Psoriasis.

Psoriasis, a chronic inflammatory skin disease marked by hyper proliferation and aberrant differentiation of keratinocytes, affects 2-3% of the world's population. Research into the pathogenesis of psoriasis has been hampered by the lack of models that accurately reflect the biology of the psoriatic phenotype. We have previously reported that East Indian Sandalwood oil (EISO) has significant anti-inflammatory properties in skin models and hypothesized that EISO might provide therapeutic benefit to psoriasis patients due to its anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative properties.