6533b862fe1ef96bd12c619c

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Characterization of oriented protein-ceramic and protein-polymer-composites for cartilage tissue engineering using synchrotron μ-CT

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Abstract In this paper we report on the synthesis of three different gelatine based scaffold materials for the reconstruction of articular cartilage defects. The first scaffold design is based on an unmodified, oriented gelatine network, while the second design further comprises an attached inorganic hydroxyapatite layer and the third design includes poly(l-lactide) microspheres as a model material for future drug-release applications. All three scaffold designs were characterized and imaged using synchrotron μ-CT, obtaining a complete volumetric reconstruction of a previously defined sample region. Furthermore, two unmodified scaffolds were cultivated for one week with porcine chondrocytes. Afterwards the attached cells were labelled using a combination of Au-lysine and silver enhancer. In synchrotron μ-CT analysis we were thus able to map the cell distribution due to the difference in X-ray absorption of the labelled cells and the non labelled scaffolds in a volume of several millimetres.