Manufacturing Technology and Characteristics of Nerve Conduits Made of Polylactic Acid/Alginate Braids

• Main Authors: Chih-Hung He, 何智閎
• Other Authors: none
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/47093562032969778476

碩士 === 逢甲大學 === 纖維與複合材料學系 === 99 === Nervous system in animals is the most important system to communicate and control, ascribing the repairing remedies for the impaired nervous system to a crucial research direction. Alginate and polylatic acid are both characterized by good biocompatibility, and were further made into nerve conduit in this thesis. We braided the hollow polylactic acid tubes with the polylatic acid ply yarns on a 16-spindle braid machine, giving the tubes high porosity and permeability. Next, alginate membrane was rolled up and inserted into the hollow tube, forming the polylactic acid/ alginate composite nerve conduit which had the porous outer layer and dense inner layer. Physical properties, cytotoxicity, and animal experiment were then examined. According to the experimental results, polylactic acid ply yarn had the optimum elongation over 30% after it received the alkali treatment for twenty minutes; in addition, the water contact angle of the polylactic acid membrane was 57°. The hollow polylactic acid tube had optimum tensile force from axial direction of 17.19 N when the ratio of the take-up gear to the braid gear was 60:50. Furthermore, the surface porosity of the tube was 82.8 ±1.9 %. Based on the cytotoxicity analysis, the polylatic acid/ alginate composite nerve conduit demonstrated good biocompatibility and non-toxicity after the co-culture of the Schwann cells and polylatic acid/ alginate extraction solution for twenty-four hours and for forty-eight hours. Finally, the animal experiment displayed that the gel state that alginate provided was suitable for the Schwann cells to adhere and migrate; thus the polylactic acid/ alginate composite nerve conduit with one inner layer of alginate membrane produced a greater amount of nerve fibers.