Wang Xiaoxi, Li Wei, Kumar Vipin
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-2600, USA.
Biomaterials. 2006 Mar;27(9):1924-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2005.09.029. Epub 2005 Oct 10.
Most of the existing fabrication techniques for tissue engineering scaffolds require the use of organic solvents that may never be fully removed even after long leaching hours. The residues of these organic solvents reduce the ability of biological cells to form new tissue. This paper presents an approach toward solvent-free fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds. Interconnected porous structures were created using solid-state foaming and ultrasound. The material used in this study was polylactic acid (PLA) and the blowing agent was CO(2). In order to determine suitable process conditions, saturation and foaming studies were first conducted. Selected foam samples were then processed using pulsed ultrasound. The microstructures before and after the ultrasound processing were compared. It was shown that the inter-pore connectivity of the solid-state foams was substantially enhanced. The combined solid-state foaming and ultrasound processing provide a way to fabricate porous polymer for potential tissue engineering applications.
大多数现有的组织工程支架制造技术都需要使用有机溶剂，即使经过长时间的浸出，这些有机溶剂也可能永远无法完全去除。这些有机溶剂的残留会降低生物细胞形成新组织的能力。本文提出了一种无溶剂制造组织工程支架的方法。利用固态发泡和超声技术创建了相互连接的多孔结构。本研究中使用的材料是聚乳酸（PLA），发泡剂是CO₂。为了确定合适的工艺条件，首先进行了饱和与发泡研究。然后对选定的泡沫样品进行脉冲超声处理。比较了超声处理前后的微观结构。结果表明，固态泡沫的孔间连通性得到了显著增强。固态发泡与超声处理相结合为制造用于潜在组织工程应用的多孔聚合物提供了一种方法。
