Fiber spinning of PLGA for blood capillary tissue engineering

Abstract

Biodegradable polymers have great potential as a scaffold material for tissue engineering and vascular grafts. Non woven poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanofibers were fabricated by electrospinning to study the effects of cell sheet formation and the interactions between endothelial cell on PLGA fiber. This experiment focus on the effects of changing process parameters such as applied voltage, flow rate and needle tip to substrate distance (16cm, 17cm and 18cm) in order to control fiber diameter and fiber density. Proliferation and cell culture studies using human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were carried out to evaluate their efficiency as scaffold for blood capillary tissue engineering. The PLGA nanofiber was electrospun on the surface of the prepared PLGA frame. The surface of fibers was characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), diameter and density analysis by software Image J. Lower fiber density and decreased in fiber diameter were observed at distances further away from the rim collector due to weaker electric field. At increasing voltage, charge acceleration caused the spinning voltage not to be effectively separated hence fiber diameter increased.