Fabrication and Characteristics of Chitosan Sponge as a Tissue Engineering Scaffold

Abstract

Cells, growth factors, and scaffolds are the three main factors required to create a tissue-engineered construct. After the appearance of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), considerable attention has therefore been focused on nonbovine materials. In this study, we examined the properties of a chitosan porous scaffold. A porous chitosan sponge was prepared by the controlled freezing and lyophilization of different concentrations of chitosan solutions. The materials were examined by scanning electron microscopy, and the porosity, tensile strength, and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) release profiles from chitosan sponge were examined in vitro. The morphology of the chitosan scaffolds presented a typical microporous structure, with the pore size ranging from 50 to 200 μm. The porosity of chitosan scaffolds with different concentrations was approximately 75–85%. A decreasing tendency for porosity was observed as the concentration of the chitosan increased. The relationship between the tensile properties and chitosan concentration indicated that the ultimate tensile strength for the sponge increased with a higher concentration. The in vitro bFGF release study showed that the higher the concentration of chitosan solution became, the longer the releasing time of the bFGF from the chitosan sponge was.

Hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose‐based sponges loaded self‐microemulsifying curcumin: Preparation, characterization, and in vivo oral absorption studies

“…Mean pore diameters were determined by analysis of digital SEM images from sectioned samples. Six images (100 different pores) of each sponge were taken and utilized for the mean pore size computation . Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) (JEOL, Japan) was used to observe the morphology of the microemulsion droplets formed after reconstitution with 0.1 N HCl.…”

Chitosan‐based hydrogels: recent design concepts to tailor properties and functions

“…Macroporous scaffolds can be formed directly from native CS by freeze‐drying a CS solution in acidic media . The scaffold formed can have interconnected pores and pore sizes ranging from several micrometres to a few hundred micrometres with porosities up to 90% depending on the CS concentration and the freeze‐drying conditions . These materials with sponge‐like characteristics can be named ‘sponges’.…”

“…At a higher freezing rate, ice crystals have shorter time to grow, and the pore size is thus smaller. However, a decrease in CS concentration leads to an increase in the pore size . Ikeda et al .…”

Science from the Initial Operation of HRC

“…Although the magnetic excitations in the insulating stripe phase can be described by the linear spin-wave approximation with in-plane anisotropic exchange parameters, a breakdown of the linear spin wave approximation was observed in the magnetic excitations in the checkerboard phase with higher carrier concentration. The spin dynamics in the checkerboard phase of (La 2−x Sr x )NiO 4 (x = 0.5) and more metallic (Nd 2−x Sr x )NiO 4 (x = 0.6, 0.7) are systematically investigated [10]. We found that the observed magnetic excitations in the checkerboard phase do not show counter-propagating spin wave branches up to E ∼ 70 meV as shown in Fig.…”