On the control of axonal outgrowing for the development of new sieve interfaces

Abstract

Sieve peripheral neural interfaces are a very promising solution to develop an intimate connection between the peripheral nervous system and artificial devices (in particular hand prostheses for amputees). However, they present several drawbacks limiting their usability. For this reason we are trying to develop a new generation of sieve interfaces based on the selective control of axonal regeneration. In this manuscript, simulations and preliminary results are shown investigating the possibility of imposing a desired trajectory to the axons during the regeneration. This can be achieved by placing microspheres embedding chemical cues according to the information provided by the combination of a sinaptogenic model and of a genetic "model-free" algorithm.