Review Question - QID 219234

A 32-year-old female presents to the clinic six weeks after sustaining a dog bite injury to her right dominant hand. She shows you a picture of the injury on her phone (Figure A) and states the pain has somewhat improved, but she continues to have dense numbness to the radial aspect of her index finger. Surgical exploration is performed, and she is found to have a transected digital nerve to the radial aspect of her index finger. After trimming the nerve ends to visualize healthy nerve fascicles, there remains a 1.8cm defect. The surgeon bridges this defect utilizing a decellular nerve allograft. Which of the following best describes the purpose of the graft?