Automated Seamless Poly(ε-Caprolactone) Electrospun Tubes for Critically-Sized Bone Defect Repair

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Critically-sized bone defects pose significant clinical challenges.
• Current fabrication methods for bone scaffolds lack efficiency and reproducibility.
• Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) is a promising biomaterial for bone regeneration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an automated and reproducible manufacturing process for perforated PCL tubular scaffolds.
• To improve fabrication efficiency and eliminate discontinuities in tubular scaffolds.
• To evaluate the efficacy of these scaffolds in promoting bone healing in a preclinical model.

Main Methods:

• Direct solution electrospinning of PCL onto a rotating mandrel.
• Automated precision perforation using a soldering iron system.
• In vivo implantation of scaffolds loaded with bone morphogenic protein-2 in a rat femoral defect model.

Main Results:

• Fabrication time reduced by 67% with improved reproducibility.
• Scaffolds exhibited comparable mechanical integrity to manually assembled ones.
• In vivo studies demonstrated significant bone formation over 8 weeks, similar to the original design.

Conclusions:

• The automated method offers an efficient and reproducible approach to manufacturing PCL tubular scaffolds.
• The perforated scaffold design promotes vascularization and bone regeneration.
• This technology enables customizable scaffold dimensions and perforation patterns for bone defect repair.