Structural Design, Fabrication and Evaluation of Resorbable Fiber-Based Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Abstract

The use of tissue engineering to regenerate viable tissue relies on selecting the appropriate cell line, developing a resorbable scaffold and optimizing the culture conditions including the use of biomolecular cues and sometimes mechanical stimulation. This review of the literature focuses on the required scaffold properties, including the polymer material, the structural design, the total porosity, pore size distribution, mechanical performance, physical integrity in multiphase structures as well as surface morphology, rate of resorption and biocompatibility. The chapter will explain the unique advantages of using textile technologies for tissue engineering scaffold fabrication, and will delineate the differences in design, fabrication and performance of woven, warp and weft knitted, braided, nonwoven and electrospun scaffolds. In addition, it will explain how different types of tissues can be regenerated by each textile technology for a particular clinical application. The use of different synthetic and natural resorbable polymer fibers will be discussed, as well as the need for specialized finishing techniques such as heat setting, cross linking, coating and impregnation, depending on the tissue engineering application.

Manufacturing, characterization, and degradation of a poly(lactic acid) warp-knitted spacer fabric scaffold as a candidate for tissue engineering applications

“…The drapability of warp-knitted spacer fabric scaffolds also makes them attractive candidates in complex tissue engineering applications such as muscle-tendon junctions. 71…”

“…The drapability of warp-knitted spacer fabric scaffolds also makes them attractive candidates in complex tissue engineering applications such as muscletendon junctions. 71 With only few engineered tissues successfully used for clinical purposes, 54 the present work describes the design and manufacturing of a 3D textile scaffold able to support cell attachment and growth, and gives insights on the properties of bioabsorbable polymeric yarns during degradation and their potential effects on cell behaviour, thus contributing to the further development of bioabsorbable tissue engineering scaffolds.…”

Cotton Wastes Functionalized Biomaterials from Micro to Nano: A Cleaner Approach for a Sustainable Environmental Application

“…Cotton materials have been explored for the fabrication of scaffolds for tissue-engineered applications. King, Chen [ 106 ] reported that woven fabrics have effective mechanical strength and structural stability due to properties such as porosity and thickness. A porous structure of a tissue-engineered scaffold derived for fibre is shown in Figure 8 .…”

A textile-reinforced composite vascular graft that modulates macrophage polarization and enhances endothelial cell migration, adhesion and proliferation in vitro

“…Synthetic degradable polymers, such as poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), polycaprolactone (PCL) or copolymers, have been widely researched and used in class 3 medical devices because of their superior mechanical strength, biodegradability and low cytotoxicity. 5,6 However, they have also been implicated to elicit chronic inflammation that does not favor vascular regeneration. 7 On the contrary, natural polymer-hydrogels have been widely used in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their bioactivity that rapidly resolves acute inflammation and promotes tissue cell ingrowth.…”

“…6,13 The knitting conduit was flexible and compliant, making it suitable for the vascular graft application. 5,6,13 Although textiles fabricated from PLA yarn have shown satisfactory mechanical robustness and radial compliance, they lack bioactivity, such as cell binding motifs to facilitate cell adhesion. It has also been reported that PLA prolongs the local inflammatory response, elicits a mild foreign body reaction, and retards tissue regeneration, especially in vascular applications.…”