An injection molding process for manufacturing highly porous and interconnected biodegradable polymer matrices for use as tissue engineering scaffolds.
In this research, injection molding was combined with a novel material combination, supercritical fluid processing, and particulate leaching techniques to produce highly porous and interconnected structures that have the potential to act as scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. The foamed structures, molded with polylactide (PLA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) with salt as the particulate, were processed without the aid of organic solvents, which can be detrimental to tissue growth. The pore size in the scaffolds is controlled by salt particulates and interconnectivity is achieved by the co-continuous blending morphology of biodegradable PLA matrix with water-soluble PVOH. Carbon dioxide (CO(2)) at the supercritical state is used to serve as a plasticizer, thereby imparting moldability of blends even with an ultra high salt particulate content, and allows the use of low processing temperatures, which are desirable for temperature-sensitive biodegradable polymers. Interconnected pores of approximately 200 microm in diameter and porosities of approximately 75% are reported and discussed.
Kramschuster
Adam
A
Polymer Engineering Center, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1572, USA.
Turng
Lih-Sheng
LS
D020341:Absorbable Implants; D000465:Algorithms; D002245:Carbon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D019245:Compressive Strength; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D012965:Sodium Chloride / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D013818:Thermogravimetry; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D002245:Carbon Dioxide; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid; D012965:Sodium Chloride; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol