Dr. Christine Schmidt's goal is to give the nervous system's natural healing mechanism the help it needs in repairing cells. That means supplying a tiny burst of electricity to stimulate the growth of a damaged nerve. It also means a pathway or tunnel the growing nerve can follow from the site of the injury to its destination. If it's a short distance, the regenerating nerve, or the lost person, can find the other side. Called polypyrrole, it is a polymer that conducts electricity and can be filled with nutrients that help nerves grow.
Scientists refer to the tunnel as a nerve guidance channel.
The chief drawback at present is that polypyrrole is not biodegradable. Schmidt is trying to modify polypyrrole so that it will dissolve into the body and disappear as the nerve regenerates, like biodegradable sutures used in surgery. Schmidt's research also seeks to determine the best way to use electricity in this process. No one yet understands exactly how electric fields or electric currents work to stimulate the growth of nerve cells, but plenty of studies demonstrate that they do. Schmidt will try to determine which areas of a nerve cell should be targeted, and the level and duration of electrical stimulation that works best for nerve regeneration.