A Portable Device for Fabricating Biomaterial Microfiber Bundles

Abstract:

Engineered tendon and ligament scaffolds are ideally a bunch of biocompatible and biodegradable microfibers that are three-dimensionally aligned with no fusion between individual fibers. In this paper, a simple yet effective device that is able to fabricate this nearly native structure is presented, including design and operation method. Briefly, the device is die-free and requires only simple components such as a plate with an orifice, an aluminum holder, a ring heater and a rotating mandrel. The fabrication is done by a single step with microfiber (10 µm diameter) bundles being directly obtained at a very low take-up speed. The as-spun microfiber bundles appear silvery and shiny, apparently similar to a native tendon. This device and the method associated opens up a new way to diversify the structure of biomaterials.

• Periodical: Key Engineering Materials (Volumes 447-448)
• Pages: 750-754
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.447-448.750
• Online since: September 2010
• Authors: A. Liu, J. An, Chee Kai Chua, Kah Fai Leong
• Keywords: Biomaterial, Design, Microfiber, Polycaprolactone, Scaffold, Tissue Engineering

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