Fig. 5: Early detection of neuroma using Bio-Restor.
a Schematic illustration of the formation of neuroma, detection by Bio-Restor, and early intervention to achieve improved therapeutic outcomes. b Photographs, ultrasound and immunofluorescent images of neuroma at 2 weeks post injuries. c Photographs, ultrasound, and immunofluorescent images of neuroma at 3 weeks post injuries. d–f Representative recorded evoked signals by Bio-Restor of the control (freshly transected nerve, measured at the proximal end close to the transected site), neuroma at 2 weeks, and neuroma at 3 weeks respectively, under the electrical stimulation at the proximal side with a voltage amplitude of 1 V, 5 V and 5 V respectively. Stimulation frequency: 1 Hz, pulse duration: 10 ms. Purple square represents stimulation artifacts. g Statistical analysis of the amplitude of evoked neural signals. h–j Representative recorded electrical signals and associated time-frequency spectrograms of rats walking on a treadmill of the control (regenerated nerves at 3 weeks), neuroma at 2 weeks, and 3 weeks respectively. k Confusion matrix of the prediction and ground truth of the control, neuroma 2 W, and neuroma 3 W groups based on evoked neural signals. l Confusion matrix of the prediction and ground truth of the control, neuroma 2 W and neuroma 3 W groups based on electrical signals recorded during walking on a treadmill. In b, c, experiments were repeated with n = 3 rats per condition. In d–f, data are presented as mean ± s.d. In g, n = 10 measurement of 3 rats in each group, and one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s T3 test was used for the statistical analysis (***P < 0.001: Control-2W: P = 5.8 × 10-5, Control_3W: P = 4.7 × 10-7, 2W-3W: P = 6.8 × 10-4). The box plot presents the median (center line), lower quartile (lower border), upper quartile (upper border), maximum (upper whisker), and minimum (lower whisker), which are ≤ 1.5 times the interquartile range.
