PURPOSE To investigate the feasibility and safety of using biocompatible, nanofibrous electrospun polycaprolactone (PCL) and combination of polylactic acid (PLLA) and PCL mats in a canine model. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plasma-treated electrospun unseeded mats were implanted in three dogs. The first dog was sacrificed after 3 months and the second and third ones after 4 months, and then, the gra...

Radiation therapy for cancer in the head and neck region leads to a marked loss of salivary gland parenchyma, resulting in a severe reduction of salivary secretions. Currently, there is no satisfactory treatment for these patients. To address this problem, we are using both tissue engineering and gene transfer principles to develop an orally implantable, artificial fluid-secreting device. In th...

Nanofibrous membranes, consisting of a poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA)-silica xerogel hybrid material, were successfully fabricated from a hybrid sol using the electrospinning technique for guided bone regeneration (GBR) application. These hybrid nanofibers exhibited a homogeneous and continuous morphology, with a nano-sized dispersed silica xerogel phase in the PLLA fiber matrix. The mechanical pro...

Biodegradable poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) and PLLA/CoFe2O4 magnetic microspheres with average sizes ranging between 0.16-3.9μm and 0.8-2.2μm, respectively, were obtained by an oil-in-water emulsion method using poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) solution as the emulsifier agent. The separation of the microspheres in different size ranges was then performed by centrifugation and the colloidal stability as...

Bioactive PLLA/surface-grafted silica (g-SiO₂) nanocomposite scaffolds were fabricated by solid-liquid phase separation method. And solid PLLA/g-SiO₂ nanocomposite films were prepared by solution casting method. A series of parallel tube-like morphology and internal ladder-like structure of PLLA/g-SiO₂ nanocomposite scaffolds were observed by SEM. The formation of bone-like apatite in the simul...

Biodegradable polymeric materials can be used as temporary implants and may be able to carry out specific functions for a pre-determined period prior to their degradation in vivo. In order to be used they must present characteristics of biocompatibility. When a material comes into contact with blood, the instantaneous adsorption of protein occurs on its surface. Coverage of the surface by γ-glo...