engleski

Electrospinning to improve medical textiles - artificial ligament

Textiles have probably been used for medical applications since human learned to produce tools, mainly as sutures and wound dressings. Nowadays, textile structures are used as permanents implants too and find applications in the field of regenerative medicine. In particular, submicron fibres are attractive because they have the ability to mimic the extracellular matrix surrounding cells in the human body. Based on our previous knowledge and work, the process of electrospinning was modified with the aim to achieve continuous threads made of submicron fibres. This method, using a metal wire as collector, was developed at the Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford. The threads were produced from polycaprolactone (PCL), a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer. Many PCL devices have already been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and are currently in use in clinics. The threads produced by electrospinning showed sufficient tensile strength, measure in a tensile machine, to use them in process of twisting, weaving. SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) was used to image the electrospun fibres. Overall, the results showed the promising possibility of producing new artificial ligaments using electrospinning.

Medical textile, Electrospinning, Artificial ligament, Polycaprolactone, Tissue Regeneration, Woven Polycaprolactone

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