Ectatic corneal diseases are a group of
eye disorders characterized
by progressive thinning and outward bulging of the cornea, resulting
in vision impairment. A few attempts have been made to use cornea-derived
extracellular matrix hydrogels for corneal tissue engineering; however,
no studies have investigated its application in corneal ectasia. In
this study, we have first developed an animal surgical model that
mimics a few specific phenotypes of ectatic cornea. Later, we investigated
the potential of decellularized cornea matrix hydrogels (dCMH) from
both human and bovine sources in increasing the thickness of the cornea
in the developed surgical model. Our data advocate that surgical stromal
depletion can be followed to establish ectatic models and can also
provide information on the biocompatibility of materials, its integration
with native stroma, degradation over time, and tissue remodeling.
We observed that dCMH from both sources could integrate with ectatic
thin corneal stroma and helps in regaining the thickness by regenerating
a reasonably functional and transparent stroma; however, no significant
difference was spotted between the dCMH made from human and bovine
corneal tissue sources. Hence, this study is a promising step toward
developing a non-invasive technique for the treatment of corneal ectasia
by using dCMH.
Here, the role of the voltage waveform and the electrolytic ions in the actuation mechanism of Poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS)/bacterial cellulose bilayer actuator is reported. PEDOT:PSS/bacterial cellulosebased bilayer actuator was fabricated, and its mechanism under a square and triangular wave potential at multiple frequencies was studied. The actuation was performed with HCL, KCl, and LiCl electrolytes. The deflection of the actuator was found to be dependent on the time period of the voltage waveform. The deflection for opposite biases showed frequency-dependent asymmetry. Further, the actuator deflection was found to be related to the hydrodynamic size of cations present in electrolytes.The results indicate a cation-dominated actuation mechanism for PEDOT:PSS/bacterial cellulose bi-layer actuator.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.