3D-Printed Scaffolds for Spinal Cord Repair

More than 15 million people worldwide are living with spinal cord injury (SCI). In the US alone, over 300,000 people are suffering from SCI, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center.

Despite these numbers, there really is no way to reverse the damage from the injury. But given the devastating effect SCI has on the patients and society, researchers and companies alike are actively looking into effective treatments.

The Global Toll of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a highly debilitating condition that severely restricts a person’s ability to perform daily activities. 

It involves damage to the spinal cord, a central nerve structure extending from the brain down to the lower back. As a key part of the central nervous system, the spinal cord carries nerve signals between the brain and the body.

This long, cylindrical tube made of tissues runs in the center of our spine and is protected by the vertebrae and three layers of membranes. But activities like falls, driving incidents, and motorcycle and automobile crashes can cause damage to the spinal cord. 

Males are more commonly affected by spinal cord injury than females.

Depending on the way the injury affects the spinal cord and the location of the injury, it is organized into the cervical spine (neck), thoracic spine (upper back to below navel), lumbar spine (lower back), and sacral spine (butt to tailbone).

There are a total of 31 segments in the human spinal cord, consisting of 8 cervical, 12 thoracic, five lumbar, five sacral, and one coccygeal segment. 

In terms of severity, the spinal injury could be complete, with no motor or sensory function below the injury level, or incomplete, where some function is preserved.

Any damage to the spinal cord can affect our movement, function, and sensation. Besides physical impairment, people with SCI may also experience mental, emotional, and social side effects.

A severe case of SCI can cause paralysis, but death is also possible. People with this condition often die earlier due to insufficient access to or poor quality health services, and as such, their in-hospital mortality rate is almost three times higher in low- and middle-income countries than in high-income countries.

People with spinal cord injury are also at risk of developing debilitating and even life-threatening secondary conditions.

While children with this condition are less likely to start school, and if enrolled, less likely to advance, adults with SCI have unemployment rates exceeding 60%. The lower school and economic participation rates thus carry substantial individual as well as societal costs. 

Effective treatments are essential to alleviate the global burden of SCI.

Breakthrough Spinal Cord Injury Treatments in Development

Scientists around the world have been working on finding ways to repair spinal cord injuries. Studies seeking new treatments are ongoing around the world, opening doors to improved outcomes after these injuries.

Just a couple of months ago, in a groundbreaking study, researchers developed an ultra-thin implant¹ that sits right on the spinal cord and delivers electric currents to the injured part, mimicking natural signals to stimulate nerve healing.

When tested on rats, the device restored movement and touch sensation without causing inflammation or any other damage.

“Unlike a cut on the skin, which typically heals on its own, the spinal cord does not regenerate effectively, making these injuries devastating and currently incurable.”

– Lead researcher Dr Bruce Harland, a senior research fellow in the School of Pharmacy at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland

With their implant, the team aims to change that. In the long term, the idea is to turn it into “a medical device that could benefit people living with these life-changing spinal-cord injuries.”

In yet another study this year, researchers demonstrated impressive rates of recovery for SCI² by combining closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation (CLV) with individualized rehabilitation.

The electrical pulses are sent to the brain through a tiny device that’s implanted in the neck. It is timed to send the pulses during rehabilitative exercises. Stimulating the vagus nerve during physical therapy has been shown to rewire brain areas that are damaged by stroke and experience improved recovery.

The study actually served as a clinical trial, with the implant helping participants with chronic, incomplete cervical SCI gain meaningful improvement in arm and hand strength.

Based on more than a decade-long bioengineering and neuroscience efforts at UT Dallas, the latest approach will now proceed to overcome the final hurdle to its potential FDA approval for treating upper-limb impairment due to SCI.

Last year, a team of surgeons, neuroscientists, and engineers from the University of Cambridge also developed ‘wraparound’ implants to treat SCI³.

As the name suggests, the thin, tiny, high-resolution electronic device wraps around the spinal cord, enabling 360-degree recording and stimulation of the spinal cord. It could also bypass a complete SCI where communication had been interrupted.

While a treatment for spinal injuries is far away, the device can help us better understand this understudied part of human anatomy in a non-invasive way, and in turn, aid in the development of better therapies.

Yet another study using electrical stimulation to treat SCI came from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI).

This one detailed a 3D-printed implant⁴ that mimics the structure of the spinal cord with an ultra-thin, electrically conductive mesh that delivers targeted stimulation to damaged areas, promoting neuron and stem cell growth.

The team was able to improve their device’s effectiveness by adjusting the fibre layout, opening possibilities for application in orthopedic, cardiac, and neurological healing.

Meanwhile, Rutgers University researchers have utilized AI and robotics to treat SCI. They employed the tech to formulate highly sensitive therapeutic proteins, allowing the team to successfully stabilize the enzyme Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), which is known to reduce scar tissue resulting from SCI and promote tissue regeneration. 

The enzyme ChABC is extremely unstable at normal human body temperature (98.6°F), losing its activity within only a few hours. As a result, repeated high-dose infusions are often needed to maintain therapeutic benefit. Synthetic copolymers, however, can envelop enzymes and help stabilize them in otherwise hostile environments.

The researchers used liquid handling robotics to synthesize and test various copolymers’ ability to stabilize ChABC and maintain activity at 98.6° F. They found several copolymers capable of that, with one copolymer combination retaining 30% of the enzyme for up to a week, a promising result for SCI patients.

Now, University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers have built a 3D-printed scaffold with microscale channels that guides stem cells’ growth into working nerve cells. It promotes axonal growth, cell maturation, and neuronal network formation.

The technique has successfully restored movement in rats with severed spinal cords, promising to transform future treatment for humans with spinal cord injuries.

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3D-Printed Scaffolds for Spinal Cord Repair

While significant advancements have been made in clinical management to improve patients’ quality of life, spinal cord injuries continue to occur. Also, there are currently no treatments available for it.

Given the complexity of spinal cord injury, new treatment options would be highly welcome and beneficial for patients with SCI.

The new study reports the transplantation of regionally specific neural progenitor cells (sNPCs) to be a crucial approach for functional restoration. These cells have been shown to establish working connections with neural circuits across the damaged area. 

However, in order to maximize the regenerative capacity, it is not only necessary to define populations of transplanted cells and administer regionally specific cells to the damaged area, but defining the mechanism of action of these cells is also challenging. 

While studies have shown functional benefits of differing therapies, they won’t translate to chronic SCI due to being mainly neuroprotective mechanisms in acute and subacute injuries. There is simply a need to pursue new strategies, like establishing a relay mechanism by integrating transplanted cells into the neural circuitry. 

Spinal cord organoids make for an ideal substrate for this venture. They are, after all, most structurally similar to the spinal cord. Here, the use of 3D for neural stem cell transplantation has shown promise.

You can’t really inject cells directly into the space in the spinal cord, as that provides insufficient structural support. This problem can be addressed by 3D-printed scaffolds, which not only offer structural support but also provide biological and mechanical guidance for the cells. 

3D printing technologies have also shown the ability to create cell-loaded scaffolds that can match the shape of the lesion area, potentially improving graft-host interactions after transplantation. 

The application of 3D-printed scaffolds on organoids is still nascent, though.

So, the researchers from the University of Minnesota created 3D-printed spinal cord organoid scaffolds by using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived sNPCs, which tend to avoid immune rejection.

Studies have demonstrated that PSC-derived regionally specific sNPCs can maintain their regional specificity after transplantation. The majority of these cells differentiate into neurons to replace lost or damaged cells, thereby replicating spinal cord tissue. 

When it comes to the material for printing scaffolds, the team turned to silicone, which is widely used in medical applications.  

Derived from natural elements, silicone is a synthetic polymer that is known for its high biocompatibility and excellent oxidation resistance. Its high gas permeability, meanwhile, supports the survival of oxygen-demanding cells.

Furthermore, it is non-degradable in nature, making silicone a suitable scaffold material to grow printed cells into organoids, as it doesn’t fall apart. The research team has also previously analyzed silicone scaffolds in a controlled laboratory environment.

So, with that, the team went on to build 3D bioprinted spinal cord organoid silicone scaffolds to promote functional recovery in a rat with a transected spinal cord. 

Bridge the Gap Between Hope & Healing with a Functional Framework

In this novel approach, researchers at the University of Minnesota have combined stem cell biology, lab-grown tissues, and 3D printing to heal spinal cord injuries.

The innovative process was detailed in the study titled 3D-Printed Scaffolds Promote Enhanced Spinal Organoid Formation for Use in Spinal Cord Injury⁵, which was recently published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.

With the new research, the scientists are addressing the major challenge with the injury, which is the death of nerve cells and the inability of nerve fibers to regrow across the injury site.

The unique 3D-printing framework that they have created for organs grown in the lab is termed an organoid scaffold. The 3D scaffold with microscale channels was printed layer-by-layer while sNPCs were put into microchannels using an extrusion-based multi-material printing system.

sNPCs are a type of human stem cell that are programmed to be specific to the human spinal cord, with the goal of being used for future cell-replacement therapies following spinal cord injury. These cells divide and differentiate into specific types of mature cells. 

Unlike brain-derived neural stem cells, sNPCs integrate into the host spinal cord and differentiate into neurons, forming neural networks essential for functional recovery and restoring connections within existing neural circuits. 

“We use the 3D printed channels of the scaffold to direct the growth of the stem cells, which ensures the new nerve fibers grow in the desired way,” said the study’s first author, Guebum Han, a former University of Minnesota mechanical engineering postdoctoral researcher who’s currently working at Intel Corporation. “This method creates a relay system that, when placed in the spinal cord, bypasses the damaged area.”

The researchers tested their framework on rats to check its viability. The scaffolds were transplanted into rats whose spinal cords were entirely severed, and the cells successfully differentiated into neurons.

At twelve weeks post-transplantation, while most cells within the scaffolds differentiated into neurons, many extended into the host spinal cord. The nerve fibers were extended in rostral (toward the head) as well as caudal (toward the tail) directions, forming new connections with the host’s existing nerve circuits.

The new nerve cells seamlessly integrated into the rat’s spinal cord tissue over time, leading to considerable functional recovery. According to Ann Parr, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Minnesota:

“Regenerative medicine has brought about a new era in spinal cord injury research. Our laboratory is excited to explore the future potential of our ‘mini spinal cords’ for clinical translation.”

The research is still in its preliminary phase, though. Despite being early, it does offer a potential new and transformative treatment for those with spinal cord injuries.

Funded by the Spinal Cord Society, the National Institutes of Health, and the State of Minnesota Spinal Cord Injury and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Grant Program, the research team now aims to scale up the production of their technology.

Moreover, the team will continue to develop their combination of technologies: sNPCs, organoid assembly, and 3D printing strategies for future clinical applications.

Investing in Next-Gen Spinal Repair

One of the world’s largest medical device companies, Medtronic plc (MDT +0.65%), has deep expertise in implants, neural interfaces, and FDA-approved devices.

It has also developed spinal cord stimulators and neuromodulation devices for pain and movement disorders.

The company’s rechargeable spinal cord stimulation (SCS) devices include Inceptiv and Intellis and the recharge-free Vanta. These small, comfortable-sized devices offer personalized pain relief with closed-loop sensing technology and therapy adjustments based on body position, while allowing users to have full-body MRI scans.

Medtronic’s non-opioid treatment option is engineered to relieve chronic pain by delivering small electrical pulses to disrupt pain signals before they reach the brain.

Medtronic plc (MDT +0.65%)

Earlier this year, the company released year-long data from its clinical trial that evaluated Inceptiv’s closed-loop spinal cord stimulator (CL-SCS) in patients with leg pain and chronic low-back pain (CLBP). The data showed benefits in improving pain, physical function, and quality of life while reducing overstimulation.

The closed-loop feature senses each person’s unique biological signals and, based on that, adjusts stimulation as needed. 

The Ireland-headquartered global healthcare company aims to alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life through its technologies and therapies that treat 70 health conditions, including insulin pumps, cardiac devices, surgical tools, surgical robotics, patient monitoring systems, and more.

The cardiology segment is Medtronic’s core business, accounting for 37% of revenue, followed by neuroscience, medical surgical, and other, which primarily involves diabetes treatment.

With a market cap of $118 billion, MDT shares are currently trading at $92.36, up 15.24% YTD. It has an EPS (TTM) of 3.62 and a P/E (TTM) of 25.44. Medtronic also offers its shareholders a dividend yield of 3.09%.

As for financials, the largest medtech company in the world by revenue reported an 8.4% increase in revenue to $8.6 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, which ended July 25, 2025.

Its GAAP diluted EPS was $0.81, and its non-GAAP diluted EPS was $1.26.

While CEO Geoff Martha noted consistent organic revenue growth and strength from multiple product categories, CFO Thierry Piéton shared confidence in achieving even better results ahead as Medtronic executes on “efficiencies in manufacturing, supply chain, and operating expenses to drive earnings growth, and increase our growth investments in R&D, sales, and marketing.

This month, the medical-device maker announced the addition of two new directors to its board to seek investment opportunities and boost earnings growth. It has also established a Growth Committee to help lagging share performance.

Latest Medtronic plc (MDT) Stock News and Developments

Conclusion

Spinal cord injury is a devastating neurological condition that can lead to significant lifelong functional impairment. It is also a substantial burden on individuals, families, and healthcare systems, making it critical to find better treatment and possibly repair this key part of our central nervous system.

With organoids, bioengineering, and 3D printing, researchers are tackling one of medicine’s hardest problems. While human therapies are still years away, once scaled and realized, the technology can help millions recover and regain their independence.

References:

1. Harland, B., Matter, L., Lopez, S., et al. Daily electric field treatment improves functional outcomes after thoracic contusion spinal cord injury in rats. Nature Communications, 16, 5372, published 26 June 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60332-0
2. Kilgard, M.P., Epperson, J.D., Adehunoluwa, E.A., et al. Closed-loop vagus nerve stimulation aids recovery from spinal cord injury. Nature, 643, 1030–1036, published 21 May 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09028-5
3. Woodington, B.J., Lei, J., Carnicer-Lombarte, A., Güemes-González, A., Naegele, T.E., Hilton, S., El-Hadwe, S., Trivedi, R.A., Malliaras, G.G., & Barone, D.G. Flexible circumferential bioelectronics to enable 360-degree recording and stimulation of the spinal cord. Science Advances, 10(19), eadl1230, published 8 May 2024. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adl1230
4. Woods, I., Spurling, D., Sunil, S., O’Callaghan, A.M., Maughan, J., Gutierrez-Gonzalez, J., McGuire, T.K., Leahy, L., Dervan, A., Nicolosi, V., & O’Brien, F.J. 3D-printing of electroconductive MXene-based micro-meshes in a biomimetic hyaluronic acid-based scaffold directs and enhances electrical stimulation for neural repair applications. Advanced Science, eadvs.202503454, published 15 July 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202503454
5. Han, G., Lavoie, N.S., Patil, N., Korenfeld, O.G., Kim, H., Esguerra, M., Joung, D., McAlpine, M.C., & Parr, A.M. 3D-printed scaffolds promote enhanced spinal organoid formation for use in spinal cord injury. Advanced Healthcare Materials, eadhm.202404817, published 23 July 2025. https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202404817