A new braided poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) (LA : GA = 10 : 90) catheter, consisting of an outside-tube and an inside-scaffold, was designed and fabricated to guide and support peripheral nerve regeneration. According to the process of peripheral nerve regeneration, the functional division of the outside-tube and the inside-scaffold was confirmed as follows: the major function of the outside-tube was support for the space of the nerve regeneration and the needed good compression performance and the major function of the inside-scaffold was simulation of the matrix bridge in the nerve regeneration process. Therefore, the outside-tube was braided for a higher density with PLGA ply yarns and coated with chitosan; the inside-scaffold was braided for a lower density with PLGA single filaments treated by H2O2. The arrangement and number of micro-tubes were designed and theoretically calculated. In this paper, the basic thickness and density performance of the new catheter was tested first. Then, the fibroblast cytocompatibility and the fiber tensile in degradation were assessed as indications of the performance change of the unmodified and modified materials. Finally, the compression performance of the new catheter was compared with two other catheters. The results showed that the new catheter had a uniform and stable structure. The modified inside-scaffold had a higher cytocompatibility and facilitation of fibroblast growth than the unmodified one; meanwhile, it maintained enough mechanical properties to support nerve regeneration in degradation. Furthermore, the elastic recovery and compressive resistance retention respectively reached 84% and 93%, which meant excellent compression performance. In summary, the performance of this new braided PLGA catheter attained the designed targets.
Ultrasonic modification was used as a simply-operated and efficient method for improving the hydrophilicity and cytocompatibility of polyglycolic acid (PGA) and poly lactic-coglycolic acid (PLGA, lactide:glycolic acid (LA:GA) = 10:90) fibers, and maintaining the tensile property at the same time. The fibers were pre-treated ultrasonically by dipping in the mixed solution composed of absolute ethyl alcohol and polyphosphoric acid (PPA) (volume ratio 1:1) at 250 W ultrasonic power for 6 min. Scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the surface morphology of PGA and PLGA fiber before and after modification. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to investigate the change of fiber chemical composition. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry analysis showed that the crystalline degree of modified PGA and PLGA fibers decreased. The results of tensile test indicated that compared to that before modification, the breaking strength of modified PLGA increased, while the breaking strength of PGA fiber remained unchanged. The water contact angle of modified fiber was lower than that of unmodified fiber, showing higher hydrophilicity. The cell proliferation assay indicated that fibroblast cells attached and proliferated better on the modified fiber, which means the modified fibers possess good cytocompatibility. These results
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