Cheng Chih-Hsin, Chen Wen-Cheng, Yang Wen-Chieh, Yang Sen-Chi, Liu Shih-Ming, Chen Ya-Shun, Chen Jian-Chih
Clinical Histopathology Division, Hualien Armed Forces General Hospital, Hualien 970, Taiwan.
Advanced Medical Devices and Composites Laboratory, Department of Fiber and Composite Materials, Feng Chia University, Taichung 407, Taiwan.
Polymers (Basel). 2025 Jan 14;17(2):185. doi: 10.3390/polym17020185.
Ligament tears can strongly influence an individual's daily life and ability to engage in physical activities. It is essential to develop artificial scaffolds for ligament repairs in order to effectively restore damaged ligaments. In this experiment, the objective was to evaluate fibrous membranes as scaffolds for ligament repair. These membranes were created through electrospinning using piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composites, which contained 1 wt.% and 3 wt.% of copper-impregnated nanohydroxyapatite (Cu-nHA). The proposed electrospun membrane would feature an aligned fiber structure achieved through high-speed roller stretching, which mimics the properties of biomimetic ligaments. Nanoparticles of Cu-nHA had been composited into PVDF to enhance the pirzoelectric β-phase of the PVDF crystallines. The study assessed the physicochemical properties, antibacterial activity, and biocompatibility of the membranes in vitro. A microstructure analysis revealed that the composite membrane exhibited a bionic structure with aligned fibers resembling human ligaments. The piezoelectric performance of the experimental group containing 3 wt.% Cu-nHA was significantly improved to 25.02 ± 0.68 V/g·m compared with that of the pure PVDF group at 18.98 ± 1.18 V/g·m. Further enhancement in piezoelectric performance by 31.8% was achieved by manipulating the semicrystalline structures. Antibacterial and cytotoxicity tests showed that the composite membrane inherited the antibacterial properties of Cu-nHA nanoparticles without causing cytotoxic reactions. Tensile tests revealed that the membrane's flexibility of strain was adequate for use as artificial scaffolds for ligaments. In particular, the mechanical properties of the two experimental groups containing Cu-nHA were significantly enhanced compared with those of the pure PVDF group. The favorable piezoelectric and flexible properties are highly beneficial for ligament tissue regeneration. This study successfully developed PVDF/Cu-nHA piezoelectric fibers for a biocompatible, unidirectional piezoelectric membrane with potential applications as ligament repair scaffolds.
韧带撕裂会严重影响个人的日常生活和参与体育活动的能力。开发用于韧带修复的人工支架以有效修复受损韧带至关重要。在本实验中，目的是评估纤维膜作为韧带修复支架的性能。这些膜是通过静电纺丝法使用压电聚偏氟乙烯（PVDF）复合材料制成的，该复合材料含有1 wt.%和3 wt.%的铜浸渍纳米羟基磷灰石（Cu-nHA）。所提出的静电纺丝膜将具有通过高速辊拉伸实现的排列纤维结构，模仿仿生韧带的特性。Cu-nHA纳米颗粒已与PVDF复合以增强PVDF晶体的压电β相。该研究在体外评估了膜的物理化学性质、抗菌活性和生物相容性。微观结构分析表明，复合膜呈现出类似人类韧带的排列纤维的仿生结构。与纯PVDF组的18.98±1.18 V/g·m相比，含有3 wt.% Cu-nHA的实验组的压电性能显著提高到25.02±0.68 V/g·m。通过操纵半结晶结构，压电性能进一步提高了31.8%。抗菌和细胞毒性测试表明，复合膜继承了Cu-nHA纳米颗粒的抗菌特性，且不会引起细胞毒性反应。拉伸测试表明，膜的应变柔韧性足以用作韧带的人工支架。特别是，与纯PVDF组相比，含有Cu-nHA的两个实验组的力学性能显著增强。良好的压电和柔性特性对韧带组织再生非常有益。本研究成功开发了用于生物相容性单向压电膜的PVDF/Cu-nHA压电纤维，具有作为韧带修复支架的潜在应用。
