Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
Spring 5-31-2004
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering - (M.S.)
Department
Biomedical Engineering
First Advisor
Michael Jaffe
Second Advisor
Treena Livingston Arinzeh
Third Advisor
George Collins
Abstract
Electrospinning is a fabrication process that uses an electric field to control the deposition of polymer fibers on to a target substrate. This electrospinning strategy can be used to fabricate fibrous polymer mats composed of fiber diameters ranging from several microns down to tens of nanometers. This study assesses the potential of electrospinning, as an alternative scaffold fabrication technique for tissue engineering applications. In this study, electrospinning is adapted to produce tissue-engineering scaffolds of two different size ranges composed of non-woven poly-L-lactide (PLLA) nanofibers and as a first study, the potential use of these scaffolds as tissue engineering scaffolds was assessed with the cell proliferation of Mesenchymal stem cells. Electrospun fibers were characterized for fiber diameter, porosity, pore size and its distribution. The electrospun scaffolds achieved a high surface area and porosity. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) were seeded on to electrospun PLLA scaffolds having two different fiber diameters. The cell-polymer constructs were cultured under static culture conditions. Cell proliferation study was performed. The results showed that MSC tend to proliferate well on nanofibers than on microfibers.
Recommended Citation
Shanmugasundaram, Shobana, "Fabrication of nanofiber scaffolds by electrospinning and it's potential for tissue engineering" (2004). Theses. 567.
https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/567
