Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials Laboratory, Departments of Orthopedic Surgery and Biomedical Engineering, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine , Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 2009 Dec;15(4):583-94. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEC.2008.0642.
We have developed a new fabrication technique to create three-dimensional (3D) porous poly(epsilon-caprolactone fumarate) (PCLF) scaffolds using hydrogel microparticle porogens, as an alternative to overcome certain limitations of traditional scaffold fabrication techniques such as a salt leaching method. Both natural hydrogel, gelatin, and synthetic hydrogel, poly(ethylene glycol) sebacic acid diacrylate, were used as porogens to fabricate 3D porous PCLF scaffolds. Hydrogel microparticles were prepared by a single emulsion technique with the particle size in the range of 100-500 microm after equilibrium in water. The pore size distribution, porosity, pore interconnectivity, and spatial pore heterogeneity of the 3D PCLF scaffolds were assessed using micro-computed tomography and imaging analysis. Scaffolds fabricated with the hydrogel porogens had higher porosity and pore interconnectivity as well as more homogeneous spatial pore distribution, compared to the scaffolds made from the salt leaching process. Compressive moduli of the scaffolds were also measured and showed that lower porosity yielded greater modulus of the scaffolds. Overall, the new fabrication technology using hydrogel porogens may be beneficial for certain tissue engineering applications.
我们开发了一种新的制造技术，使用水凝胶微球致孔剂来制造三维（3D）多孔聚（己二酸-ε-己内酯）（PCLF）支架，以克服传统支架制造技术（如盐溶法）的某些局限性。天然水凝胶明胶和合成水凝胶聚（乙二醇）癸二酸二丙烯酸酯都被用作致孔剂来制造 3D 多孔 PCLF 支架。水凝胶微球是通过单乳液技术制备的，在水中达到平衡后粒径在 100-500μm 范围内。使用微计算机断层扫描和成像分析评估了 3D PCLF 支架的孔径分布、孔隙率、孔连通性和空间孔异质性。与盐溶法制造的支架相比，使用水凝胶致孔剂制造的支架具有更高的孔隙率和孔连通性，以及更均匀的空间孔分布。支架的压缩模量也进行了测量，结果表明较低的孔隙率会产生更大的支架模量。总的来说，使用水凝胶致孔剂的新技术可能有益于某些组织工程应用。
