Fig. 5: Evaluation of the functional recovery mediated by NGCs.

a Optical images of H&E stained gastrocnemius muscle tissue of each group at various time points. b Gastrocnemius muscle tissue densities of each group at the indicated post-operative time points (n = 6 samples, *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01). c Schematic depiction of the SFI analysis. d SFI values of each implant group at post-operative time points (n = 4 samples, *p < 0.05). Values are presented as mean ± SD.