A stroke cuts off the blood supply to part of the brain, leaving tissue starved of oxygen and often permanently harmed.
Recovering from this kind of injury is notoriously difficult, because the brain rarely repairs itself well.
Researchers at Duke University have developed a promising alternative: an injectable gel that acts as a temporary scaffold.
Once placed inside the damaged region, the scaffold encourages the body's own healing processes to take over.
In mice, it stimulated the growth of new blood vessels, which are essential for delivering oxygen to recovering tissue.
It also created a supportive environment for nerves to regenerate and reconnect.
Remarkably, the treated mice gradually recovered movement they had lost after their strokes.
Although these results are limited to animals for now, they raise real hope that human trials could follow.