Flexible support material maintains disc height and supports the formation of hydrated tissue engineered intervertebral discs in vivo.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Mechanical augmentation upon implantation is essential for the long-term success of tissue-engineered intervertebral discs (TE-IVDs). Previous studies utilized stiffer materials to fabricate TE-IVD support structures. However, these materials undergo various failure modes in the mechanically challenging IVD microenvironment. FlexiFil (FPLA) is an elastomeric 3D printing filament that is amenable to the fabrication of support structures. However, no present study has evaluated the efficacy of a flexible support material to preserve disc height and support the formation of hydrated tissues in a large animal model.

Methods

We leveraged results from our previously developed FE model of the minipig spine to design and test TE-IVD support cages comprised of FPLA and PLA

SUBMITTER: Fidai AB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11299905 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature