Fabrication and characterization of porous EH scaffolds and EH‐PEG bilayers

Abstract

Biomaterials made from synthetic polymers are becoming more pervasive in the medical field. Synthetic polymers are particularly advantageous as their chemical and mechanical properties can be easily tailored to a specific application. This work characterizes polymer scaffolds derived from the cyclic acetal monomer 5-ethyl-5-(hydroxymethyl)-β,β-dimethyl-1,3-dioxane-2-ethanol diacrylate (EHD). Both porous scaffolds and bilayer scaffolds based upon the EHD monomer were fabricated, and the resulting scaffolds' degradation and mechanical properties were studied. The results showed that by modifying the architecture of an EH scaffold, either by adding a porous network or a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) coating, the degradation and Young's modulus of the biomaterial can be significant altered. However, results also indicated that these architectural modifications can be accomplished without a significant loss in the flexural strength of the scaffold. Therefore, we suggest that porous EH scaffolds, and particularly porous EH-PEG bilayers, may be especially useful in dynamic tissue environments due to their advantageous architectural and mechanical properties.

Development and assessment of a biodegradable solvent cast polyester fabric small‐diameter vascular graft

“…To assess the effects of biodegradation and resorption on the mechanical properties of the graft, previous methods were adapted for the PGLA‐P(CL/LA) grafts . Briefly, grafts were immersed in a phosphate‐buffered saline (PBS) solution at 37°C in a benchtop shaker at 60 rpm.…”

“…To assess the effects of biodegradation and resorption on the mechanical properties of the graft, previous methods were adapted for the PGLA-P(CL/LA) grafts. 22,23 Briefly, grafts were immersed in a phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) solution at 37 C in a benchtop shaker at 60 rpm. For each 10 and 15% P(CL/LA) sealed graft groups, grafts (n 5 5) were assessed at 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 42, 56, and 70 days of immersion.…”