Microhooks help repair sutures quickly and strongly. (Photo by Karl E. Steinbrenner)
During the seventh century, Alexandrian scholar Paulus Aegineta discovered that it was possible to heal nerves by suturing them together. Surgical techniques have improved since the days of the Byzantine Empire, but in the 21st century, nerve sutures are still an incredibly tricky procedure; only about 50% of operations result in full motor recovery.
Dr. Jonathan Isaacs, head of the nerve research lab at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine since 2002, is on a mission to increase those odds. Nerve Tape, a medical product developed by VCU Health researchers and spearheaded by Isaacs, was cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2022 and entered commercial sale through BioCircuit Technologies early last year. The invention takes a different approach to nerve repair.
“We noticed many years ago that the actual repair process seemed to be low-hanging fruit,” Isaacs says. “It’s a disruptive technology, way different than anything that’s come before.”
Over a decade ago, Isaacs drew up the idea for Nerve Tape on a napkin. Put simply, Nerve Tape is a bandage, made from biological material, that is wrapped around frayed nerves and uses tiny hooks to better attach the damaged ends.
“The body uses it as a scaffold and repopulates,” Isaacs says. “As the nerves engage, more microhooks engage.”
The results from early trials pointed in a promising direction. In one study with cadaver models, 97% of repairs made using Nerve Tape were successful; the process is 4.8 times faster and 2.6 times stronger than a micro suture repair.
“The human body is very variable, very complex,” says Peter Lamothe, a VCU lab and research specialist who studies Nerve Tape on Isaacs’ team.
“Nerves are like the wires of the body,” Isaacs explains. “Nerves carry signals — signals from the brain to the muscles, telling muscles to contract; signals back up to the brain, so you can perceive the environment around you.”
In order to repair these “wires,” they must be rejoined. This is essentially the same discovery that Paulus Aegineta made in late antiquity.
But, as Isaacs says, “If the ends aren’t lined up well, there is no conceivable way for those nerve fibers to grow together.”
With its wrapping of biological material and microhooks, Nerve Tape essentially solves that problem.
The product’s immediate success has generated attention; both the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health have granted VCU resources for further study.
“The Department of Defense tends to like ideas like this, because they improve their ability to care for wounded soldiers. It’s also a resource-expanding technology,” Isaacs says. “Nerve Tape will make more surgeons capable of performing repairs. You won’t have to refer people to a tertiary center.”
To further prove the potential of Nerve Tape, work continues for researchers at VCU.
“We are making sure this is the best product it can be,” Lamothe says. “Something Dr. Isaacs talks about is selling Nerve Tape on the strength of results. We want to continue to prove that this device is going to be safely used, and that it’s going to be the best option out there.”
