Author ORCID Identifier
Date Available
10-17-2018
Year of Publication
2018
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Document Type
Master's Thesis
College
Engineering
Department/School/Program
Biomedical Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. David A. Puleo
Abstract
Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is a debilitating injury which results in full or partial loss of function. Current clinical options utilize tissue grafts and bracing to restore function. Tissue graft implantation oftentimes leads to serious complications, some of which end in graft rejection and thereby necessitate further surgeries and procedures. Polymeric scaffolds show promise as scaffolding systems due to their mechanical properties and overall degradation profiles. Scaffolds need appropriate mechanical properties, 10-60 kPa modulus, and overall degradation times, five days to two weeks, to initiate tissue regeneration. Poly(β-amino ester)s (PBAE), a class of synthetic polymers, act as a safe biocompatible material with overall degradation times that are suitable for healing; however, due to harmful ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation from common crosslinking methods, these scaffold systems cannot be synthesized in vivo. This research presents the development and characterization of blue light (BL) crosslinked PBAEs. BL PBAEs showed vastly higher swelling ratios, 300-400% increase; decreased mechanical strength, an average decrease of 877 kPa in compressive modulus and 431 kPa in tensile modulus; and prolonged degradation patterns, 22% average mass retention. BL PBAEs show mechanical properties and degradation profiles that could be used as a skeletal muscle scaffolds.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13023/etd.2018.406
Funding Information
This research was funded by the National Institute of Health (AR060964).
Recommended Citation
Kohrs, Nicholas John, "SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BLUE LIGHT POLY(β-AMINO ESTER)S" (2018). Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering. 53.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/cbme_etds/53
