Characterization of degrading bioabsorbable polymeric knitted scaffolds in vitro

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Abstract
Stem cell scaffolds play a crucial role in tissue repair following damage. Effective stem cell therapy is enabled through seeding of cells on to biomimetic scaffolds, however, effective scaffolds are difficult to realize due to the complex mechanics of tissue they need to emulate. Polymeric knitted scaffolds, constructed with heat-extruded multifilament yarn, could be used to better match mechanical properties of tissue because of their anisotropic nature and ability to uncrimp similarly to human tissue. Additionally, the knitted scaffolds can be tuned to match a wide range of soft tissue mechanics while the biomaterials undergo degradation. The goal of this research is to test and characterize polymeric knitted stem cell scaffolds’ tensile properties through degradation. To achieve this goal, the polymeric knitted scaffolds were tested while simulating the environment and conditions of the human body and over a period of time long enough for degradation to occur, so that the changes in mechanical properties could be understood as the scaffolds degrade. Different polymeric yarn materials were characterized that compose the knits, revealing trends in how the mechanical properties of the materials change over time. These results will help create knitted scaffolds with adjustable degradation and tunable mechanical properties to better match the properties of injured tissue during healing.
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2025
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