Surface characterisation and biomechanical analysis of the sclera by atomic force microscopy

Grant, Colin A.; Thomson, Neil H.; Savage, M.; Woon, H; Greig, D.

doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2010.12.011

Cited by 33 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…surface roughness, as revealed by the corresponding height and phase images taken in tapping mode under water ( figure 4 c,d ) and respective height profile ( figure 4 e ). The AFM elastic modulus is generally affected by the surface roughness, given that the interaction volume between the tip and the sample changes depending on how many surface protrusions are in contact with the tip [ 65 ]. By comparing surface heterogeneities among hydrogels, however, larger roughness values ( R a : 31 nm; R q : 20 nm; table 1 ) were determined on hydrogel CRT-4VBC25 * with respect to hydrogel CRT-4VBC50 * ( R a : 13 nm; R q : 16 nm; table 1 ), despite larger E AFM regional variations being observed in the latter compared with the former sample.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-scale mechanical characterization of highly swollen photo-activated collagen hydrogels

Tronci

Grant

Thomson

et al. 2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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Biological hydrogels have been increasingly sought after as wound dressings or scaffolds for regenerative medicine, owing to their inherent biofunctionality in biological environments. Especially in moist wound healing, the ideal material should absorb large amounts of wound exudate while remaining mechanically competent in situ. Despite their large hydration, however, current biological hydrogels still leave much to be desired in terms of mechanical properties in physiological conditions. To address this challenge, a multi-scale approach is presented for the synthetic design of cyto-compatible collagen hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties (from the nano- up to the macro-scale), uniquely high swelling ratios and retained (more than 70%) triple helical features. Type I collagen was covalently functionalized with three different monomers, i.e. 4-vinylbenzyl chloride, glycidyl methacrylate and methacrylic anhydride, respectively. Backbone rigidity, hydrogen-bonding capability and degree of functionalization (F: 16 ± 12–91 ± 7 mol%) of introduced moieties governed the structure–property relationships in resulting collagen networks, so that the swelling ratio (SR: 707 ± 51–1996 ± 182 wt%), bulk compressive modulus (Ec: 30 ± 7–168 ± 40 kPa) and atomic force microscopy elastic modulus (EAFM: 16 ± 2–387 ± 66 kPa) were readily adjusted. Because of their remarkably high swelling and mechanical properties, these tunable collagen hydrogels may be further exploited for the design of advanced dressings for chronic wound care.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-scale mechanical characterization of highly swollen photo-activated collagen hydrogels

Tronci

Grant

Thomson

et al. 2015

J. R. Soc. Interface.

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“…Because of its importance, several studies have characterised anisotropy, hyperelasticity and viscoelasticity in scleral tissue (Curtin, 1969;Downs et al, 2005;Eilaghi et al, 2010aEilaghi et al, , 2010bGirard et al, 2009a;Myers et al, 2010;Woo et al, 1972), and determined the regional variations of its biomechanical behaviour and thickness (Curtin, 1969;Elsheikh et al, 2010a;Norman et al, 2010;Olsen et al, 1998). Particular attention has been given to the fibrous stroma which, similar to corneal stroma, constitutes 90% of scleral thickness and dominates overall behaviour (Grant et al, 2011). Similar to the cornea, scleral stroma is composed of mainly type I collagen fibrils embedded within a matrix of proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans, with the proteoglycans forming the essential cross-bridge structures between the fibrils (Fullwood et al, 2011;Meek and Fullwood, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-related variations in the biomechanical properties of human sclera

Geraghty

Jones

Rama

et al. 2012

Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials

114

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“…Atomic force microscopy has been used extensively to measure stiffness of substrates for cell culture [43] and the stiffness properties of individual cells [44]. Studies pertaining to whole native tissues are however more rare: they concern mainly bones [45], cartilages [46] or arteries [47,48] and usually feature only topographical data; elastic modulus properties have only been studied in a few cases [47,49]. The topography of live embryonic tissue has recently been studied with the AFM [50].…”

Section: Atomic Force Microscopymentioning

confidence: 99%