Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Calcium Phosphate-Based Resorbable Biomaterials For Bone Regeneration, Daniel O. Costa

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Bone defects are a prevalent problem in orthopedics and dentistry. Calcium phosphate-based coatings and nanocomposites offer unique solutions towards producing scaffolds with suitable physical, mechanical and biological properties for bone regeneration.

We developed a novel method to synthesize hydroxyapatite (HA) particles with high aspect ratio using sol-gel chemistry and hydrothermal treatment. We obtained tunable pure-phase carbonated-HA in the form of micro/nanorods and nanowires (diameters 25-800 nm). To mimic the structure of bone, HA nanowires were homogenously mixed within poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) to produce nanocomposites with improved mechanical properties as determined by uniaxial tensile testing.

Surface chemistry and topography of biomaterials play …

Co-Culture Of Smooth Muscle Cells And Endothelial Cells On Porous 3d Polyurethane Scaffolds For Vascular Tissue Engineering, Aparna Bhattacharyya

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

One of the challenges in the designing of clinically-relevant vascular substitutes is our lack of understanding on how vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and vascular endothelial cells (VECs) interact in the graft. The aim of this study was to examine the factors that play a role in VSMC and VEC interaction in 3D co-culture. Highly porous 3D poly(carbonate urethane) scaffolds were fabricated using a solvent casting and particulate leaching method. VSMCs and VECs were co-cultured for 48 hours. Immunofluorescence staining showed that VSMCs readily attached to the scaffold and formed dense confluent layers which facilitated the organization of VECs of …