Shahban, SA;
Brown, RA;
Bozec, L;
Cheema, U;
(2009)
Enhancing the mechanical properties of collagen by photo-chemical cross-linking.
In:
Abstracts of the Tissue and Cell Engineering Society (TCES) meeting 8-10 July 2009, Universities of Glasgow & Strathclyde.
(pp. 96 - 96).
Preview |
PDF
v018supp02a096.pdf Available under License : See the attached licence file. Download (33kB) |
Abstract
Cell survival within mechanically strong scaffolds is critical in the design of tissue engineered constructs. Collagen type I gels tend to be mechanically weak due to the low percentage of collagen with limited orientation and crosslinking. To enhance the properties of collagen type I gels we used the following approaches: a) plastically compress the collagen gel to increase the density and b) photochemically crosslink the gel using riboflavin as a photoinitiator and high intensity blue light. Following plastic compression both the collagen density and cell number increase 58-fold1. This study aims to assess mechanical properties and the degree of cell viability in different areas of the compressed gel following cross-linking. Patterns of cross-linking were also applied to induce anisotropic features to the gels
Archive Staff Only
View Item |