Cellular therapeutics delivery to the spinal cord: technical considerations for clinical application

Abstract

Current literature demonstrates the efficacy of cell-based therapeutics in small animal models of varied spinal cord diseases. However, logistic challenges remain towards development of an optimized delivery approach to the human spinal cord. Clinical trials utilize a variety of methods to achieve this aim. In this article, the authors review currently employed delivery methods, compare the merits of alternate delivery paradigms, introduce their implementation in completed and ongoing clinical trials, and discuss promising near-term advances in image-guided delivery and in vivo graft tracking.