Patient-Specific Biomimetic Neural Reconstruction for Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in permanent neurological dysfunction through neuronal loss, axonal disruption, demyelination, neuroinflammation, and disruption of distributed neural networks. Diffuse axonal injury (DAI) represents a particularly difficult therapeutic problem because its pathology is characterized by widespread disruption of axons and white-matter pathways rather than a single surgically removable lesion. Current regenerative approaches have investigated neural stem/progenitor cells, biomaterial scaffolds, tissue engineering, 3D bioprinting, remyelination, and electrical neuromodulation. However, most strategies target individual components of neural repair rather than attempting patient-specific reconstruction of the anatomical and biological environment of the injured tissue.