BACKGROUND Sinus lift is a bone augmentation procedure that improves the alveolar crest height in an atrophic posterior maxilla. However, the regenerated bone volume can vary and generally has a tendency to decrease after sinus operation. This article describes nongrafted maxillary sinus lift using a bioresorbable unsintered hydroxyapatite combined with poly L-lactide (HA/PLLA) mesh plate devic...

The reconstruction of large bone defects after injury or tumor resection often requires the use of bone substitution. Artificial scaffolds based on synthetic biomaterials can overcome disadvantages of autologous bone grafts, like limited availability and donor side morbidity. Among them, scaffolds based on nanofibers offer great advantages. They mimic the extracellular matrix, can be used as a ...

The organization and intricacy of the central and peripheral nervous systems pose special criteria for the selection of a suitable scaffold to aid in regeneration. The scaffold must have sufficient mechanical strength while providing an intricate network of passageways for axons, Schwann cells, oligodendrocytes, and other neuroglia to populate. If neural regeneration is to occur, these intricat...

For biodegradable polymers such as poly (Llactic acid) (PLLA), material crystallinity has a considerable effect on degradation and physical properties. In this work, the effects of laser fluence of a 355 nm UV Q-switched Nd-YAG laser on the crystallinity and conformation at the surface of PLLA films and the factors affecting the transformation are investigated. Electron microscopy, X-ray diffra...

The aim of this study was to characterize the mechanical and self-expansion properties of braided bioabsorbable stents. In total four different stents were manufactured from PLLA fibres using a braiding technique. The changes in radial pressure stiffness and diameter recovery of the stents were determined initially, and after insertion and release from a delivery device. The braided stents were...

A series of gases were used for plasma treatment of poly-(L-lactide) (PLLA) under various conditions such as atmosphere, electric power, pressure and time. The NH(3) was preferably selected for modifying the surface of PLLA because it can obtain appropriate hydrophilicity and surface energy with high polar component compared to other gases. Subsequently, cells were seeded onto NH(3) modified su...

A newly developed planar array infrared reflection-absorption spectrograph (PA-IRRAS) offers significant advantages over conventional approaches including fast acquisition speed, excellent compensation for water vapor, and an excellent capacity for large infrared accessories, e.g., a water trough. In this study, the origin of stereocomplexation in a polylactide enantiomeric monolayer at the air...

Nanomaterials of ZnO-PLLA nanofibers have been used for the adsorption of Cr(VI) as a prime step for the purification of water. The fabrication and application of the flexible ZnO-PLLA nanofiber nanocomposite as functional materials in this well-developed architecture have been achieved by growing ZnO nanorod arrays by chemical bath deposition on synthesized electrospun poly-L-lactide nanofiber...

Lysozyme (LSZ)-loaded poly-L-lactide (PLLA) porous microparticles (PMs) were successfully prepared by a compressed CO₂ antisolvent process in combination with a water-in-oil emulsion process using LSZ as a drug model and ammonium bicarbonate as a porogen. The effects of different drug loads (5.0%, 7.5% and 10.0%) on the surface morphology, particle size, porosity, tapped density and drug releas...

The purpose of this study was to examine the growth and morphology of a salivary epithelial cell line (HSG) in vitro on several biodegradable substrata as an important step toward developing an artificial salivary gland. The substrates examined were poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA), polyglycolic acid (PGA), and two co-polymers, 85% and 50% PLGA, respectively. The substrates were formed into 20- to 25-...