Three Potential Elements of Developing Nerve Guidance Conduit for Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

Autograft replaced by a nerve guidance conduit (NGC) is challenging in peripheral nerve injury because current NGC is still limited by precise conductivity and excellent biocompatibility in vivo, which influences the peripheral nerve repair even for a long lesion gap repair. Several particular elements have the potential function for nerve conductivity acceleration based on the traditional three factors of neural tissue engineering. The review aims to address three questions: 1) What is the superior factor for nerve conduction in the application? 2) How can a more conductive regenerative scaffold be constructed in vivo? 3) What is the next step in nerve regeneration for NGC? The bibliometrics analysis of NGC-related references is adopted to acquire that the conductive material, manufacturing technology of neural scaffold, and electrical stimulation (ES) play essential roles in the acceleration of nerve conduction. This review visually analyses the research status and summarizes the main types of conductive materials, the manufacturing technologies of neural scaffolds, and the characteristics of ES. The viewpoints and outlook of developing NGC are also discussed in this review. The proposed three elements are expected to improve the nerve conduction of NGC in vivo and even address the dilemma of long-distance peripheral nerve injury.