ABSTRACT
Porous scaffolds have been made from two polyurethanes based on thermally induced phase separation of polymer dissolved in a DMSO/water mixture in combination with salt leaching. It is possible to obtain very porous foams with a very high interconnectivity. A major advantage of this method is that variables like porosity, pore size, and interconnectivity can be independently adjusted with the absence of toxic materials in the production process. The obtained compression moduli were between 200 kPa and 1 MPa with a variation in porosity between 76 and 84%. Currently the biological and medical aspects are under evaluation.
Subject(s)
Polyurethanes/chemistry , Salts/chemistry , Tissue Scaffolds , Animals , Biocompatible Materials/chemistry , Dimethyl Sulfoxide/chemistry , Materials Testing , Porosity , Solvents/chemistry , Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared , Surface Properties , Temperature , Tissue Engineering/methodsABSTRACT
Longitudinal lesions in menisci are among the most frequent orthopedic problems of the knee. Repair by simple techniques is only limited to the vascular part of the meniscus. For repair of the avascular part of the meniscus a scaffold, which will assist the body in the formation of new meniscus cell tissue, might be applicable. In this study a biomedical segmented polyurethane with poly(epsilon-caprolactone) as soft segment and 1,4-butanediisocyanate and 1,4-butanediol as uniform hard segments has been synthesised. The material has a micro phase separated morphology and excellent mechanical properties. A porous scaffold was prepared via a combination of liquid-liquid phase separation and salt leaching. The foams prepared combined a very high interconnectivity and porosity with the desired compression modulus. After six months of implantation in the knees of beagles full ingrowth with cells was obtained and it was found that meniscus like tissue had been formed in the scaffold. Moreover, compression behaviour appeared to be comparable to native meniscus tissue.
