Laser - Pore Creation

In a standard electrospinning setup, prolong deposition of the nanofibers may give a nanofibrous structure that is sufficiently thick give it a three-dimensional profile. However, for application in tissue engineering, the pore size is generally too small for cell infiltration. Laser may be used to introduce pores on the nanofibrous structure. Through careful control of the ablation process, precise and uniquely shaped pores may be introduced to the nanofiber mat with minimal thermal degradation to the surrounding fibers [Jennes et al 2012]. Joshi et al (2013) created a laser perforated scaffold made from electrospun membrane sheet with pore sizes of 80 µm, 160 µm and 300 µm and rolled into the form of a cylinder. The perforation was designed to ensure overlapping of the pores after rolling. These were subsequently implanted in the peritoneal cavity of Lewis Rats after wrapping in omentum. They found that only scaffold with 300 µm holes exhibited full cell penetration after two weeks and significant vascular ingrowth to a distance of 850 µm.

[+]

[-] comments powered by Disqus

Content [3D nanofibrous structures]