A free-standing PLLA microchamber arrays films are proposed to deliver small watersoluble substances. Rhodamine B was completely released from PLLA microchambers in vitro within 13 days. Low frequency ultrasound damages PLLA microchambers and detaches a sufficient number of microchamber "caps" with prolonged exposure time. Free-standing printed PLLA microchamber arrays can be applied as endovascular stent cover for complementary pharmacological effects.
The designing of new biodegradable polymer composites is one of the most promising areas of modern orthopedics and regenerative surgery. At present, a number of methods have been proposed for designing and processing biodegradable polymer composites via various 3D printing technologies; however, the homogeneity of filler distribution together with mechanical properties of scaffolds made of such composites are far from those required for clinical use. In this study, the method for producing biodegradable composite material based on poly(l‐lactic acid) (PLLA) solution in organic solvent and hydroxyapatite (HAp) powder was proposed. The influence of HAp weight fraction and additional annealing on PLLA matrix crystallinity was investigated. It was shown that crystallinity of PLLA decreases from 58.84 ± 1.21 to 17.33 ± 1.69 as HAp weight fraction increased from 0 to 50 wt%. However, HAp filler promoted PLLA crystallites growth according to the X‐ray powder diffraction analysis. The results of nanoindentation showed Young's modulus values of the 3D‐printed scaffolds with 50 wt% of HAp at the level of human femur and tibia.
In this study, polymer scaffolds were fabricated from biodegradable poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and from non-biodegradable vinylidene fluoride-tetrafluoroethylene (VDF-TeFE) by electrospinning. These polymer scaffolds were subsequently surface-modified by sputtering titanium targets in an argon atmosphere. Direct current pulsed magnetron sputtering was applied to prevent a significant influence of discharge plasma on the morphology and mechanical properties of the nonwoven polymer scaffolds. The scaffolds with initially hydrophobic properties show higher hydrophilicity and absorbing properties after surface modification with titanium. The surface modification by titanium significantly increases the cell adhesion of both the biodegradable and the non-biodegradable scaffolds. Immunocytochemistry investigations of human gingival fibroblast cells on the surface-modified scaffolds indicate that a PLGA scaffold exhibits higher cell adhesion than a VDF-TeFE scaffold.
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