In Vivo MRI of Macromolecular Transport Into the Rat Spinal Cord via Peripheral Nerve Infusion

Convection-enhanced delivery (CED), or direct infusion, of therapeutic agents into peripheral nerves is of interest since it may provide an alternative delivery route to the spinal cord (SC). This delivery method requires only minimally invasive surgery, reducing the risk of SC injury during surgery. It may also allow targeting of specific neurons entering the SC. Previous studies have shown that transport in peripheral nerves is anisotropic with a preferred direction parallel to the fiber tracts [1, 2]. A large-scale longitudinal spread of macromolecular agents may be obtained and spread of agents into the SC may be possible (Fig. 1).