MISiS and TPU: Material for "growing" organs and tissues

Main article: Growing organs (Bioprinting, bioprinting)

2022: Introduction of a method for modifying biopolymers for tissue engineering

Scientists at NUST MISIS together with colleagues from Tomsk Polytechnic University have proposed a way to modify biopolymers for tissue engineering. This was announced on December 9, 2022 to the medical portal Zdrav.Expert by representatives of MISIS. Adding a small amount of reduced graphene oxide particles to the material contributes to improved mechanical properties and shape memory effect, the scientists said. In the future, such material can be used for soft tissue regeneration, for example, for nervous tissue and skin.

The Russian scientists have created a new material for "growing" organs and tissues
Photo: MISIS

Biopolymers are known to be widely used in medicine. A significant amount of research is focused both on the creation of polymer composite materials characterized by biocompatibility and biodegradation, and on the production of polymer scaffolds - "scaffolds" that serve as the basis, matrix for cells and are used for reconstructive surgery.

There are a number of requirements for materials used to create such scaffolds, since they must be biologically compatible with the human body, have appropriate biomechanical properties, have a developed microstructure and contribute to the process of tissue regeneration. Therefore, one of the main tasks of tissue engineering is to study and create new materials for various applications, specified in MISiS.

Biocompatible polylactide and polycaprolactone polymers are well suited to the described criteria, moreover, polylactide has a pronounced shape memory effect, which can improve the adaptability of medical structures and promote self-installation of implants.

Scientists of the Scientific and Educational Center for Biomedical Engineering of the University of Science and Technology MISiS, together with researchers from Tomsk Polytechnic University, modified scaffolds (scaffolds) from a combination of polylactide and polycaprolactone by adding reduced graphene oxide to the particles, which have outstanding electrical and thermal conductive properties.

Illustration by sciencedirect.com

According to Polina Kovaleva, co-author of the work, an employee of the scientific and educational center for biomedical engineering at NUST MISIS, this work studied the structure, thermal and mechanical properties, as well as the memory effect of the shape of hybrid scaffolds made of polylactide and polycaprolactone (PLA-PCL) with a different content of electrically conductive particles of reduced graphene oxide (rGO). Porous fibrous materials were created by electrospinning.

"As a result of the tests, it turned out that the rGO filler contributes to increasing the degree of crystallinity of the polymer matrix. Thus, as the rGO content increased, the mechanical properties of the scaffolds also improved, for example, at a content of 1.5 wt% rGO, the tensile strength doubled relative to the particle-free scaffolds. In addition, when activating EPF, heat-conducting particles contributed to softening of the polymer matrix, which led to relaxation processes before restoring the shape, "Polina Kovaleva shared.

According to the researchers, such materials are promising for use in tissue engineering, especially for soft tissue implants, and the programmable effect of shape memory can serve for self-installation, shrinkage or vice versa to unfold scaffolds in the body. However, to clarify the possibility of using the material for specific tissues, for example, for nervous tissue or skin, scientists have to conduct many preliminary studies and tests.

An article with the results of the NUST MISiS and TPU study was published in the European Polymer Journal.

See also

• Polymers in medicine
• Graphene