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Engineered Skin Biomechanics and the Deformation Behavior of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Ebersole, Gregory C.

Abstract Details

2011, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Materials Science and Engineering.

Tissue engineering has unlimited potential for the treatment of non-functional organs and tissues. However, current engineered tissues are often incapable of matching both the biological and mechanical properties of native tissues. For example, engineered skin strength remains several magnitudes weaker than normal human skin. To better understand the mechanics of engineered skin and develop methods to significantly improve its properties, the mechanical properties of the individual layers of engineered human skin were quantified as a function of time and correlated with cell proliferation and differentiation. From this study, it was determined that overall skin strength and stiffness were highly correlated to epidermal differentiation and that the dermis contributed very little to the overall mechanics of the composite skin. As a result, the studies subsequently focused on methods to improve fibroblast function within the dermis. Mechanical stimulation of these cells is commonly utilized to increase protein production; however, the connection between initial scaffold geometry and mechanics, frequency/amplitude of stimulation and resultant cell function is not known and could require thousands of experiments to optimize. Thus, a computational model that can predict the geometric deformation and microstress state of a scaffold under a given mechanical stimulation profile and ultimately predict the resultant change in cellular function would be a powerful tool in the study of tissue engineering and mechanobiology.

To develop such a model, the optimal input data must first be evaluated. Tissue engineering scaffolds are used in a hydrated state; however, most finite element models for polymeric scaffolds utilize information collected from dry scaffolds, commonly collected via scanning electron microscopy, to inform their models. Thus we first sought to establish if the sterilization and hydration process significantly altered scaffold macroscale geometry or fiber shape/tortuosity and secondly to determine what characterization technique would provide the most accurate information to inform a model. Macroscale scaffold geometry, fiber geometry, fiber tortuosity and single fiber mechanics of electrospun collagen and polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds were quantified in the dry and hydrated state to investigate any macro- or micro-scale geometric changes as a result of the hydration process. This study indicated that electrospun fiber geometry within PCL and collagen scaffolds significantly changes during the normal hydration and sterilization processes performed before cell culture. Such behavior led to significant changes in the stress required to strain the fiber up to 20% and indicates a need for models to characterize fiber geometry from hydrated scaffold images.

Lastly, an attempt was made to model both the microscale deformation and macroscale mechanical properties of electrospun collagen scaffolds at a cellular scale. This investigation, along with the hydration study, was performed to further the understanding of how scaffolds deform under mechanical loading. This knowledge will be critical towards eventually eliciting the mechanism by which how mechanical stimulation causes macroscale tissue property changes for tissue engineering applications.

Heather Powell, PhD (Advisor)
Peter Anderson, PhD (Advisor)
John Lannutti, PhD (Committee Member)
Keith Gooch, PhD (Committee Member)
74 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Ebersole, G. C. (2011). Engineered Skin Biomechanics and the Deformation Behavior of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306765479

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Ebersole, Gregory. Engineered Skin Biomechanics and the Deformation Behavior of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds. 2011. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306765479.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Ebersole, Gregory. "Engineered Skin Biomechanics and the Deformation Behavior of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306765479

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)