Israeli researchers are developing a spinal-cord implant made from the patient’s own living neural tissue that could help repair the damage responsible for paralysis. The technology originated in Professor Tal Dvir’s laboratory at Tel Aviv University and is now being developed by Israeli biotechnology company Matricelf toward human testing.
The goal is to restore connections that a spinal-cord injury can interrupt. The spinal cord carries signals between the brain and the body, including the commands that control voluntary movement. When an accident, fall or battlefield wound damages those pathways, the brain may still issue a command to move a leg, but the signals cannot reach the muscles needed to carry it out.
“The goal is to build a small piece of spinal cord that behaves like the real thing,” Dvir explained in an interview. To achieve that, replacement cells must survive at the injury site and establish useful connections with surrounding tissue. The researchers begin that development outside the body, nurturing the cells before introducing them into the injured area.
Producing each personalized implant takes several months, a process that begins with a blood sample and a small sample of abdominal tissue.
Building a living implant
The blood sample supplies cells that researchers reprogram into stem cells, returning them to a flexible state from which they can develop into many specialized cell types.
The second ingredient comes from fatty tissue associated with the abdominal organs. Researchers separate out the supporting material that surrounds its cells, including collagen and other structural molecules. They then process this material into a hydrogel, a water-rich gel that gives the developing cells a supportive environment in which to grow.
With the stem cells embedded in the gel, controlled laboratory conditions mimic aspects of how the spinal cord develops in an embryo. These conditions guide the cells to become nerve cells, including motor neurons, which carry signals involved in controlling movement. As they develop, the cells extend connections to one another and reshape the surrounding supporting material, forming an interconnected network.
That interaction between cells and their surroundings is central to the approach. Cells transplanted individually must establish connections and organize into tissue within the injured spinal cord, where conditions may be unfavorable to their survival and growth. Preparing the implant in advance allows some of that work to take place under controlled conditions. The resulting graft is intended for the damaged area, where it could connect with surviving nerve tissue.
“The beauty of this gel is that it’s also personalized, just like the cells,” Dvir said in a university update. Using the recipient’s own cells and supporting material aims to reduce the risk that the immune system recognizes the implant as foreign.
Restoring movement
The technological innovation has already demonstrated impressive results in the lab. In a study, published in Advanced Science, mice treated with the engineered tissue walked with better coordination and used their affected hind leg more effectively. Researchers also found evidence of nerve fibers surviving or growing across the damaged area, linking signs of tissue repair with gains in the animals’ ability to move.
“The model animals underwent a rapid rehabilitation process, at the end of which they could walk quite well,” Dvir said in the university’s announcement. Particularly significant were the improvements in animals whose injuries had already become established. Those findings suggested that the approach could support recovery beyond the immediate aftermath of an injury, an essential consideration for developing a treatment for people already living with paralysis.
The experiments involved partial spinal-cord injuries, so they do not establish what recovery would be possible in humans. “There are still many challenges, but we are optimistic,” Dvir observed in an interview with Ynet. The study provided a concrete foundation for that optimism: Laboratory-grown neural tissue had supported both biological repair and measurable improvements in function.
More recent developments have strengthened the program’s path toward clinical testing. In June 2026, Matricelf reported completing an animal safety study with monitoring extending up to 39 weeks after implantation. According to the company, no treatment-related toxicity, tumor formation or spread of the implant to distant tissues was detected. “The results provide strong support for the safety profile of our technology,” Matricelf CEO Gil Hakim said in the announcement.
Matricelf also launched a larger study examining recovery of movement and sensory responses after established injuries, with initial results expected toward the end of 2026. The research is now advancing from the original demonstration toward the evidence needed for its next major step: testing the implant in a patient.
Toward the first patient
In an August update, the Ness Ziona-based company estimated that treatment of a first selected patient could begin at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan in the first half of 2027, provided the remaining scientific and regulatory requirements are met.
The preparations bring tissue engineering into contact with the people who would deliver the treatment. Sheba is developing the manufacturing process, while spinal-cord rehabilitation specialists at Loewenstein Rehabilitation Medical Center in Ra’anana are helping evaluate potential recipients. In September, Matricelf also reported U.S. Food and Drug Administration feedback supporting key elements of its proposed human study, including the patient population and clinical assessments.
The proposed trial would focus on adults with established, complete traumatic injuries in the chest region of the spinal cord. Alongside safety and changes in nerve function, it would assess independence in everyday life. That includes abilities such as dressing, moving between a bed and wheelchair, and managing bladder and bowel function. These are concrete measures of what recovery could mean for a patient.
Walking remains the ultimate ambition. “If this works in humans, and we believe that it will, it can offer all paralyzed people hope that they may walk again,” Dvir’s research team noted. Hakim added that “conditions once considered irreversible will become treatable,” and emphasized the importance of “restoring function rather than managing symptoms.”
Eli Sprecher, CEO of Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, described the effort as bringing together “advanced Israeli science, a world-class clinical manufacturing infrastructure, and real hope for millions of people around the world.”
