Validation and application of a nondestructive and contactless method for rheological evaluation of biomaterials

Abstract

Hydrogels are extensively used for tissue engineering, cell therapy or controlled release of bioactive factors. Nondestructive techniques that can follow their viscoelastic properties during polymerization, remodeling, and degradation are needed, since these properties are determinant for their in vivo efficiency. In this work, we proposed the viscoelastic testing of bilayered materials (VeTBiM) as a new method for nondestructive and contact‐less mechanical characterization of soft materials. The VeTBiM method measures the dynamic displacement response of a material, to a low amplitude vibration in order to characterize its viscoelastic properties. We validated VeTBiM by comparing data obtained on various agar and chitosan hydrogels with data from rotational rheometry, and compression tests. We then investigated its potential to follow the mechanical properties of chitosan hydrogels during gelation and in the presence of papain and lysozyme that induce fast or slow enzymatic degradation. Due to this nondestructive and contactless approach, samples can be removed from the instrument and stored in different conditions between measurements. VeTBiM is well adapted to follow biomaterials alone or with cells, over long periods of time. This new method will help in the fine tuning of the mechanical properties of biomaterials used for cell therapy and tissue engineering. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 2565–2573, 2017.

An Engineered Infected Epidermis Model for In Vitro Study of the Skin’s Pro-Inflammatory Response

“…The storage modulus was then measured at different time points using ElastoSens™ Bio2 (Rheolution, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) (Figure 3F). This instrument works based on the mechanical vibration of a detachable sample holder containing a small amount of material, and the system deformation is measured by laser and converted into storage and loss moduli [58]. The results show that 10% gelatin lost its integrity after 7 days of incubation and detached from the sample holder due to degradation.…”

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A nondestructive contactless technique to assess the viscoelasticity of blood clots in real-time

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“…VeTBiM has been previously validated with hydrogels such as chitosan and agar ( Ceccaldi et al., 2017 ). However, rheometry was used to validate the method with the bioinks used in this work.…”

“…A relatively new characterization technique, viscoelastic testing of bilayered materials (VeTBiM), non-destructively characterizes the viscoelastic properties of hydrogels ( Ceccaldi et al., 2017 ). In this approach, the sample is fabricated or placed in a cylindrical sample cup with rigid walls and a flexible bottom.…”