engleski

Characterisation of a polycaprolactone electrospun patch for aterior cruciate ligament repair

Failure rates of primary ACL reconstruction surgery approach 25%(1), necessitating new approach to improve outcomes. One promising strategy harnesses bioresorbable scaffolds to facilitate native ligament healing. Ideally, such scaffold should have a structure mimicking that of the natural ligament, provide adequate mechanical strength, and be fully biocompatible – supporting the appropriate cellular activity in order to drive tissue regeneration, while eliciting minimal local and systemic toxicity. With this in mind, we have developed a robust polycaprolactone(PCL) prototype scaffold, and have characterised it against a current market competitor as well as traditional suture materials. The prototype scaffold was produced by electrospinning of continuous PCL filaments(2), and by subsequently weaving these into a 10mm wide fabric. Uniaxial tensile testing was used to determine the mechanical properties of the prototype vs controls, and morphology was assessed via SEM. In compliance with ISO 10993- 5:2009, cytotoxicity was evaluated with a neutral red uptake assay using NIH/3T3 cells. Cellular attachment and proliferation of ACL-derived primary fibroblasts, cultured on scaffolds for 14 days, were monitored using PrestoBlue™ assay and SEM. The tensile strength of the prototype patch was comparable to hamstring tendon allograft, the current gold standard for repair. The SEM images demonstrated a biomimetic morphology of the patch, with aligned nanofibers, similar to the ligament microstructure. The prototype showed an adequate cytotoxicity profile. Primary cells attached to the materials tested, demonstrating fibroblast- like morphology and increased metabolic activity from day 7 of culture. This study supports the suitability of a novel PCL electrospun scaffold for ACL reconstruction.

medical textiles ; electrospinning ;

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