title: Preparation and characterization of electrical conductive PVA based materials for peripheral nerve tube-guides.
abstract: Peripheral nerve regeneration is a serious clinical problem. Presently, there are several nerve tube-guides available in the market, however with some limitations. The goal of this work was the development of a biomaterial with high electrical conductivity to produce tube-guides for nerve regeneration after neurotmesis injuries whenrver an end-to-end suture without tension is not possible. A matrix of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was used loaded with the following electrical conductive materials: COOH-functionalized multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), poly(pyrrole) (PPy), magnesium chloride (MgCl2 ), and silver nitrate (AgNO3 ). The tube-guide production was carried out by a freezing/thawing process (physical crosslinking) with a final annealing treatment. After producing the tube-guide for nerve regeneration, the physicochemical characterization was performed. The most interesting results were achieved by loading PVA with 0.05% of PPy or COOH- functionalized CNTs. These tubes combined the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and PPy with the biocompatibility of PVA matrix, with potential clinical application for nerve regeneration. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 104A: 1981-1987, 2016.
authors.affiliation: CEMUC, Departamento De Engenharia Metalúrgica E Materiais, Faculdade De Engenharia, Universidade Do Porto, (FEUP), Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, S/N 4200-465, Portugal.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: Departamento De Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto De Ciências Biomédicas De Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade Do Porto (up), Rua De Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, Nº 228, Porto, 4050-313, Portugal.|Centro De Estudos De Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto De Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias E Agro-Alimentares (ICETA), Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, Porto, 4051-401, Portugal.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Departamento De Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto De Ciências Biomédicas De Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade Do Porto (up), Rua De Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, Nº 228, Porto, 4050-313, Portugal.|Centro De Estudos De Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto De Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias E Agro-Alimentares (ICETA), Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, Porto, 4051-401, Portugal.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Departamento De Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto De Ciências Biomédicas De Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade Do Porto (up), Rua De Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, Nº 228, Porto, 4050-313, Portugal.|Centro De Estudos De Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto De Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias E Agro-Alimentares (ICETA), Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, Porto, 4051-401, Portugal.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Luís
authors.affiliation: Departamento De Clínicas Veterinárias, Instituto De Ciências Biomédicas De Abel Salazar (ICBAS), Universidade Do Porto (up), Rua De Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, Nº 228, Porto, 4050-313, Portugal.|Centro De Estudos De Ciência Animal (CECA), Instituto De Ciências e Tecnologias Agrárias E Agro-Alimentares (ICETA), Rua D. Manuel II, Apartado 55142, Porto, 4051-401, Portugal.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Mauricio
authors.affiliation: CEMUC, Departamento De Engenharia Metalúrgica E Materiais, Faculdade De Engenharia, Universidade Do Porto, (FEUP), Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, S/N 4200-465, Portugal.
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: CEMUC, Departamento De Engenharia Metalúrgica E Materiais, Faculdade De Engenharia, Universidade Do Porto, (FEUP), Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, Porto, S/N 4200-465, Portugal.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lopes
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002152:Calorimetry, Differential Scanning; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D005615:Freezing; D048091:Guided Tissue Regeneration / Q000379:methods*; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000502:physiology*; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D055672:Static Electricity; D017155:Wettability; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol
keywords: carbon nanotubes; nerve guide; poly(pyrrole); poly(vinyl alcohol); tissue engineering