ReFeel® Nerve Cuff Evaluation in Rat Sciatic Nerve Models

Thomas A. Russell published a study on 2026-04-23 comparing the ReFeel® bioresorbable nerve cuff to commercial collagen-based devices in rat sciatic nerve models. The document describes functional, histological, and morphometric assessments conducted at multiple time points up to 26 weeks. It quantifies outcomes such as scaffold degradation, axon regeneration, Schwann cell activity, and fibrosis.

Use Cases

• Compare biomaterial degradation and host response based on histological staining results described in the study
• Evaluate axonal regeneration and Schwann cell alignment metrics for different nerve repair devices
• Analyze time-series data on inflammation and fibrosis from the 1-week to 26-week assessment periods

Strengths

• Study includes longitudinal assessments at 1, 8, 13, and 26-week time points
• Compares a novel alginate-PGA device against two established commercial collagen-based devices (NeuroMatrix® and NeuroMend®)
• Uses multiple quantitative measures: axon densities, G-ratios, and scores for fibrosis and inflammation

Limitations

• The dataset is a 17.1 KB DOCX document; the underlying quantitative data tables are not directly provided as a structured dataset
• Row count and column-level documentation are unknown, requiring manual extraction and interpretation from the text
• Data is specific to a Sprague-Dawley rat model, which may limit direct translation to other species or clinical contexts

Provenance

Source

Thomas A. Russell via figshare

Collection Method

Experimental study involving two rat sciatic nerve models (gap and wrap) with functional, histological, immunohistochemical, and morphometric assessments.

Time Range

Study assessments conducted at 1, 8, 13, and 26 weeks post-implantation.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-23 10:18:54