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Updated: Jul 16, 2025
Athymic Rat Model for Evaluation of Engineered Anterior Cruciate Ligament Grafts
Published on: March 26, 2015
High-Performance Artificial Ligament Made from Helical Polyester Fibers Wrapped with Aligned Carbon Nanotube Sheets
Liyuan Wang1, Hongyu Jiang1, Fang Wan2
1State Key Laboratory of Molecular Engineering of Polymers, Department of Macromolecular Science, Institute of Fiber Materials and Devices, and Laboratory of Advanced Materials, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China.
Abstract:
Repairing high-load connective tissues, such as ligaments, by surgically implanting artificial grafts after injury is challenging because they lack biointegration with host bones for stable interfaces. Herein, a high-performance helical composite fiber (HCF) ligament by wrapping aligned carbon nanotube (CNT) sheets around polyester fibers is proposed. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery shows that HCF grafts could induce effective bone regeneration, thus allowing the narrowing of bone tunnel defects. Such repair of the bone tunnel is in strong contrast to the tunnel enlargement of more than 50% for commercial artificial ligaments made from bare polyester fibers. Rats reconstructed with this HCF ligament show normal jumping, walking, and running without limping. This work allows bone regeneration in vivo through a one-step surgery without seeding cells or transforming growth factors, thereby opening an avenue for high-performance artificial tissues.
