A University of Alberta researcher has found a treatment that increases the speed of nerve regeneration by three to five times, leading to much better outcomes for trauma surgery patients.

“We use the term ‘time is muscle,'” said Christine Webber, an associate professor in the U of A’s anatomy division and a member of the Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute. “If that regrowing nerve can’t get to the muscle fast enough, you’re not going to get a functional repair.”