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Poly‐left‐lactic acid tubular scaffolds via diffusion induced phase separation: Control of morphology
Author(s) -
Pavia Francesco Carfì,
La Carrubba Vincenzo,
Ghersi Giulio,
Brucato Valerio
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.23273
Subject(s) - materials science , scaffold , porosity , morphology (biology) , diffusion , tissue engineering , coating , composite material , homogeneous , phase (matter) , fiber , lactic acid , chemical engineering , biomedical engineering , chemistry , medicine , physics , organic chemistry , biology , bacteria , genetics , engineering , thermodynamics
In this work, tubular poly‐left‐lactic acid scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering applications were produced by an innovative two‐step method. The scaffolds were obtained by performing a dip‐coating around a nylon fiber, followed by a diffusion induced phase separation process. Morphological analysis revealed that the internal lumen of the as‐obtained scaffold is equal to the diameter of the fiber utilized; the internal surface is homogeneous with micropores 1–2 μm large. Moreover, a porous open structure was detected across the thickness of the walls of the scaffold. An accurate analysis of the preparation process revealed that it is possible to tune up the morphology of the scaffold (wall thickness, porosity, and average pore dimension), simply by varying some experimental parameters. Preliminary in vitro cell culture tests were carried out inside the scaffold. The results showed that cells are able to grow within the internal surface of the scaffolds and after 3 weeks they begin to form a “primordial” vessel‐like structure. Modeling predictions of the dip‐coating process display always an underestimate of experimental data (dependence of wall thickness upon extraction rate). POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers