Tissue engineering textile scaffolds

Scaffolds play a central role in tissue engineering. Textile structures are particularly attractive to tissue engineering because of their ability to tailor a broad spectrum of scaffolds with a wide range of properties. Preliminary studies clearly demonstrate the suitability of textile scaffolds for tissue engineering purposes. There is no universal scaffold that meets the requirements of the various tissues of the human body. Further systematic study is necessary to design an optimal scaffold for each tissue application. 

Ramakrishna S., Textile scaffolds in tissue engineering in Tao X. (ed.) Smart Fibres, Fabrics and Clothing, Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, 2001,299. 

Senel Ayaz, H.G., et al., 2014. Textile-templated electrospun anisotropic scaffolds for regenerative cardiac tissue engineering. Biomaterials 35, 8540—8552. 

M Kun, C.Chan and S Ramakrishna, Textile-based scaffolds for tissue engineering , S.Rajendran (Ed), Advanced Textiles for Wound Care, Woodhead Publishing Limited, Cambridge, CRC Press LLC, Florida, 2009. 

As an example for textiles in medicine, projects using PVDF as scaffold for tissue engineering as well as for implants are explained further. 

TEXTILE SCAFFOLDS FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING- NEAR FUTURE OR JUST VISION ... 

Scaffold production for tissue engineering with appropriate mechanical properties and architecture is currently attracting much attention. The development of textile scaffolds for tissue regeneration is of increasing importance, since these structures are very suitable for the substitution of human tissue and organs. 

Tissue engineering allows surgeons the possibility of cultivating living cells/tissues that would ultimately amalgamate fuUy with the patients own tissues. Textile materials made into suitable scaffolds are the most important part of the structure which supports the tissue forming cells. When... 

Mouritz, A.P., Bannister, M.K., Falzon, P.J., Leong, K.H., 1999. Review of applications for advanced three-dimensional fibre textile composites. Compos. A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 30,1445-1461. Moutos, F.T., Freed, L.E., Guilak, F., 2007. A biomimetic three-dimensional woven composite scaffold for functional tissue engineering of cartilage. Nat. Mater. 6, 162-167. 

A. Walther, B. Hoyer, A. Springer, B. Mrozik, T. Hanke, C. Cherif, W. Pompe,M. Gelinsky, Novel textile scaffolds generated by flock technology for tissue engineering of bone and cartilage, Materials 5 (12) (2012) 540—557. 

These examples are some of the infinite possibihties of fibrous scaffold used in tissue engineering. Remember, however, that scaling and orientation of libers are active parameters of implantable stractures and have to be determined in light of each application s specific requirements to improve biointegralion. Textile technologies could provide controllable structures that lead to optimum cell culture conditions. 

In spite of progress achieved, serious challenges remain to acquire a clear and full understanding of potential fiber implications in the field of implantable medical textiles. The product stmcture—property relationship is an important research field. We must be able to mimic native mechanical and stmctural parameters to best suit our devices. We can thus adapt the mechanical parameters to specific applications. Regarding tissue engineering, it remains to develop efficient manufacturing processes for the preparation of fibrous scaffolding. 

In contrast, spider silk is devoid of sericin and hence does not evoke the same biological or immunological reactions. Thus, spider silk has better biocompatibility and is a preferred biomaterial for suture applications. It has also been studied as a material for regenerative nerve conduits to promote peripheral nerve regeneration [33]. Silk s unique mechanical properties coupled with its ability to be fabricated into different textile structures enable its use in tissue engineering scaffolds that mimic the mechanical properties of native tissues. For example, silk filaments have been converted into a braided rope stracture that acts as a scaffold for the regeneration of anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) [34]. 

A large number of fibers has been used or developed for various applications such as wound dressing materials, sutures, scaffolds in tissue engineering, functional textile, and air filters. Over the past several years, the biomedical application interests for chitin and chitosan have drawn much attention. This is due to the fact that chitin and chitosan are biodegradable, biocompatible, and non-toxic. 

Soy protein-based green composites are not only applied as an environmental friendly material in the fields of adhesives (Kumar et al. 2002), plastics (Kumar et al. 2011), and textile fibers (Kobayashi et al. 2014), but also as biodegradable membranes (Mamthi et al. 2014). Furthermore, the nutritional and health benefits of soy protein draw attention to the application in the field of biomedical materials (Silva et al. 2014), such as tissue engineering scaffolds (Chien and Shah 2012),... 

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