Fabrication of biodegradable 3D Porous Scaffolds

초록

Porous scaffolds have been intensively studied as a candidate for treating the damaged tissues. In order to regenerate the damaged tissues cells have to be delivered and to grow with the aid of the three-dimensional scaffolds, which are required to have interconnected pores and high porosity. Biocompatibility, biodegradability and reasonable mechanical properties are also needed. In this study poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) based poly(ester-urethane) was synthesized with hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI) as a biocompatible and flexible component. Hydroxy apatite (Hap) was then introduced to form composites with improved biocompatibility and bioactivity. Scaffolds of the poly(ester-urethane)/Hap composites were fabricated by salt leaching, which has been known as one of the representative methods to construct porous scaffolds. Scaffolds of PLLA and poly(L-lactic acid-co-glycolic acid), respectively, were made by electrospinning. Electrospinning utilized high electric fields to produce narrow fibers with diameters ranging from tens if nanometers to micrometers, and an unusually high porosity. The nano-size continuous fibers can easily be converted into non-woven fabrics, which may be useful for porous scaffold due to high porosity and high surface-to-volume ratios. To explore the applications of the porous 3D scaffolds in tissue engineering , the properties of the PLLA based system were characterized and cell activities were also investigated.