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Assessment of electrospun cardiac patches made with sacrificial particles and polyurethane‐polycaprolactone blends
Author(s) -
Beck Emily C.,
Jarrell Dillon K.,
Lyons Anne C.,
Vanderslice Ethan J.,
VeDepo Mitchell C.,
Jacot Jeffrey G.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of biomedical materials research part a
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.849
H-Index - 150
eISSN - 1552-4965
pISSN - 1549-3296
DOI - 10.1002/jbm.a.37201
Subject(s) - polycaprolactone , materials science , in vivo , scaffold , polyurethane , biomedical engineering , polyhydroxyalkanoates , electrospinning , ethylene oxide , composite material , polymer , medicine , genetics , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , copolymer , biology
Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are the leading cause of death in live‐born infants. Currently, patches used in the repair of CHDs are exclusively inert and non‐degradable, which increases the risk of arrhythmia, follow‐up surgeries, and sudden cardiac death. In this preliminary study, we sought to fabricate biodegradable scaffolds that can support cardiac regeneration in the repair of CHDs. We electrospun biodegradable scaffolds using various blends of polyurethane (PU) and polycaprolactone (PCL) with and without sacrificial poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) particles and assessed the mechanical properties, cell infiltration levels, and inflammatory response in vitro (surface cell seeding) and in vivo (subcutaneous mouse implant). We hypothesized that a blend of the two polymers would preserve the low stiffness of PU as well as the high cell infiltration observed in PCL scaffolds. The inclusion of PU in the blends, even as low as 10%, decreased cell infiltration both in vitro and in vivo. The inclusion of sacrificial PEO increased pore sizes, reduced Young's moduli, and reduced the inflammatory response in all scaffold types. Collectively, we have concluded that a PCL patch electrospun with sacrificial PEO particles is the most promising scaffold for further assessment as in our heart defect model.