# Medical Imaging of Peripheral Nerve Injury and Repair

> **NIH VA I01** · VA SAN DIEGO HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · 2022 · —

## Abstract

Peripheral nerve damage is a debilitating consequence of both traumatic injury to the extremities of
soldiers, and a secondary outcome following spinal cord injury (SCI). Equally devastating, for both the Veteran
and general population, is nerve damage during excision of surrounding tissue, disease, or iatrogenic injury.
Functional recovery from nerve damage is often incomplete, resulting in impaired motor function, sensory loss,
and pain. Recovery is especially poor for chronic nerve injuries, which can result from unrepaired nerves or
from delayed or failed primary repair. A major challenge in treating nerve injury is the current lack of effective
methods to medically image nerves. As a consequence, surgeons are unable to accurately assess the extent
of nerve injury, plan surgical intervention in an informed and data-driven manner, or assess the success of
nerve repair at early time points, to predict long-term recovery.
 We have developed innovative quantitative strategies for nerve imaging, which overcome challenges
created by the complex structure and architecture of nerves. Our approach employs two widely deployed
clinical modalities, ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our imaging approach is
motivated by strong preliminary data demonstrating that quantitative US (qUS) and MRI (qMRI) are powerful
and clinically feasible strategies for monitoring nerve structure and composition at high-resolution and with high
sensitivity. These approaches are also intended to provide non-invasive surrogates for biological changes that
occur during nerve degeneration and regeneration, but which cannot be evaluated in patients. To establish the
validity and utility of qUS and qMRI in evaluating nerve structure and composition in a clinical setting, we will
address the following specific aims in rat (Aim 1) and human (Aim 2) models of acute and chronic nerve injury:
1) To test the efficacy of quantitative US and MR imaging strategies in assessing neuromuscular morphology
and composition during peripheral nerve degeneration and following repair of acute and chronic models of rat
sciatic nerve injury. 2) To test the clinical efficacy of quantitative US and MR imaging strategies in assessing
neuromuscular morphology and composition in acute and chronic models of human median and ulnar nerve
injury immediately prior to surgical repair.
 Our approach has the potential to transform the diagnosis and treatment of nerve injury. Immediate clinical
impacts include: (i) objective guidance on deciding whether to perform nerve repair or nerve transfer surgery;
(ii) predicting and monitoring the efficacy of nerve repair; (iii) guidance for post-op rehabilitation protocols. This
work will also set the stage for a prospective study in which imaging strategies will be deployed as prognostic
tools for predicting the efficacy of neuromuscular recovery following nerve repair, towards improved treatment
of nerve injury in Veteran and general populations. More br...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10426042
- **Project number:** 5I01CX002118-02
- **Recipient organization:** VA SAN DIEGO HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Sameer B. Shah
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-10-01 → 2024-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10426042

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10426042, Medical Imaging of Peripheral Nerve Injury and Repair (5I01CX002118-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10426042. Licensed CC0.

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