Speaker
Description
Successful results in tissue engineering are indeed dependent upon the interaction between the medical device and the biological environment. There are many ways to optimize this interaction and our strategy is to focus on the polymer properties in combination with the production process and the final design. We start by designing the polymer microstructure, synthesis of a polymer with suitable properties for the manufacturing process and the application. In the next step we outline a suitable design of the scaffold, preferable by using finite element analysis and computational fluid dynamics.
During the last five years we have worked towards the aim to define and design a 3D porous degradable scaffold suitable for soft tissue engineering. Our aim has been a pliable scaffold which stimulate regeneration of adipose tissue and which at the same time protect the sensitive cells against external load. By forming a collaboration including competence in computer modelling, polymer synthesis, mechanical characterization, additive manufacturing, in vitro and in vivo characterization we have now managed to present a scaffold that has great potential. We have 1) synthesized a degradable aliphatic polyester which does not degrade in additive manufacturing while degrading faster than poly(ɛ-caprolactone) in vitro 2) designed a scaffold which is pliable and still protect the adipose-tissue–derived stem cells towards too high external load. All results from this interdisciplinary collaboration have generated a lot of knowledge regarding, for example, how the degradable polymers behave in different additive manufacturing processes. Details will be presented and we conclude that the selection of polymer is for great importance at all levels for the results in tissue engineering.
| Speaker Country | Sweden |
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