Materials directed to implants for repairing central nervous system

Abstract

Central Nervous System (CNS) can be damaged by a wide range of injuries and disorders which entail permanent disability in some cases. Moreover, CNS repairing process presents some complications. The natural repair mechanism, which consists on the glial scar formation, is triggered by the inflammatory process. Molecules delivered during these processes, inflammation and glial scar formation as well as oxygen and glucose deficiencies due to the injury, create an inhibitory environment for axon regeneration and remyelination which is known as "secondary injury". Biomaterials are taking up an even more important role in repairing CNS. Physicochemical properties of some ceramic materials have inspired different applications to repair CNS as substrates, electrodes or molecule vehicles. Based on their biocompatibility, capability to neutralize reactive species involved in the inflammatory processes and their versatile processing to obtain scaffolds with different shapes and sizes, ceramics are a succulent offer in nervous tissue engineering. Furthermore, their possibilities have been increased with polymeric-ceramics composites development, which have given rise to new interesting horizon.