Home Diseases and Conditions Nerve Injury Requiring Grafting

Nerve Injury Requiring Grafting

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Development Stage

Early Stage

Focused ultrasound research is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Clinical Trials

Focused ultrasound for this condition is being researched in clinical trials.

International Approval

Focused ultrasound is approved to treat this condition outside the US. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating international sites.

FDA Approved

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved focus ultrasound for this condition. Patients can seek commercial treatment at participating sites.

Early Stage

Clinical Trials

International

FDA Approved

Focused ultrasound research for this condition is in the laboratory phase and is not yet available for patients.

Focused Ultrasound Therapy 

Focused ultrasound is a rapidly evolving, therapeutic technology that could transform the quality of life and decrease the cost of care for patients with nerve injury requiring grafting. This novel technology focuses beams of ultrasound energy precisely and accurately on the body without damaging surrounding normal tissue. 

How it Works 

Where the beams converge, focused ultrasound treatment of the donor graft before it is harvested yields a pre-degenerated state which in preclinical models has a significantly higher graft survival coupled with a higher muscle strength than donor sites with no focused ultrasound treatment. While significant work has been accomplished, there is still much to be done before this technology will be widely available. 

The primary options for treatment of nerve injury requiring grafting are open surgery, but the addition of higher graft survival rates and enhanced muscle strength would be welcome additions to conventional medicine.  

For certain patients, focused ultrasound could provide significant advantages, with little additional risk.  

Advantages 

  • Focused ultrasound is non-invasive, so it does not carry added concerns like surgical wound healing or infection.  
  • Focused ultrasound can reach the desired target without damaging surrounding tissue. 
  • It can be repeated, if necessary. 

Clinical Trials 

At the present time, there are no clinical trials recruiting patients for focused ultrasound treatment of nerve injury requiring grafting.  

The Foundation updates these pages regularly, but with the increasing number of clinical trials, we want to be sure that our audience has the latest information available. Therefore, we also added the website search information for the above trials. If you click here, it will take you to the latest information available from https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/.  

Regulatory Approval and Reimbursement 

Focused ultrasound treatment for nerve injury requiring grafting is not yet approved by regulatory bodies or covered by medical insurance companies. 

Notable Papers

Chu TH, Lasaleta N, Li S, McConnachie A, Molina L, Alzahrani S, Curiel L, Pichardo S, Midha R. Predegenerating donor nerve for grafting using focused ultrasound neurotomy. Sci Rep. 2025 May 4;15(1):15581. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-00316-8. PMID: 40320399  

Kim SH, Cho BK, Choi SM, Kim SH. Clinical and Radiologic Outcomes Following Autologous Osteochondral Transplantation for Lateral Osteochondral Lesions of the Talus. Foot Ankle Int. 2025 Feb;46(2):182-191. doi: 10.1177/10711007241308576. Epub 2025 Jan 18. PMID: 39825769 

Click here for additional references from PubMed.