Tendon Tissue Engineering Using Electrochemically Aligned Collagen Bioscaffolds
- *Abstract
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The technology involves the production of continuous-length (on the scale of meters, so far) electrochemically aligned collagen (ELAC) threads by means of a custom-designed and built rotating electrode electrochemical alignment device (REEAD) which is able to form woven fibers of spool-wound collagen biomaterial.
A primary advantage of REEAD is its capability to incorporate additional components into the ELAC such as hydroxyapatite and elastin to form collagen-composite threads. These additives allow for tuning of the composition and mechanical properties of the threads. The resulting scaffolds are applicable to a variety of tissue engineering applications.
Examples of products include as tendon or ligament replacements, bioactive sutures, or surrogates for cadaver tendons used in various tendon-to-bone procedures. The threads may also be woven into sheets, useful for artificial skin, wound treatments, and other orthopedic scaffolding applications.
- Country/Region
- USA
