Bioreactor for the Biodegradation evaluation of polylactic acid in degradable stents
December 2020
Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan, Iran
In this study, an experimental investigation is conducted on mechanical characteristics of polylactic acid (PLA), before, and during degradation for stent.
A bioreactor is designed and fabricated to mimic the in-vivo environment of the body for studying the degradation behaviour of PLA fibers manufactured by melt spinning method. Beside PLA fibers, the degradation of PLA braided stents is investigated as control samples. To measure stress–strain and stress relaxation properties of PLA fibers, tensile, and relaxation tests are conducted. The decreasing trend of Young's modulus, variations in residual stress value after relaxation and pattern of stress relaxation are found during degradation. The influence of effective parameters, that is, temperature and stress, on PLA degradation is also studied. Moreover, the PLA degradation is analysed by gel permeation chromatography (GPC), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and microscopic images. GPC results indicate the molecular weight decreases from 196,000 to 80,000 due to degradation while DSC analysis confirmed that the degradation promote an increase in PLA degree of crystallinity (from 43.3% to 59.8%). In addition, TGA results show that the PLA thermal stability decreases during degradation. This study provides useful information on PLA properties during degradation to assess the material in context of degradable stents.
Biodegradation evaluation of poly (lactic acid) for stent application: Role of mechanical tension and temperature
Peiman Mosaddegh
Added on: 07-03-2023
[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/app.50389
Lush Prize Winner 2022
Winner of the Animal Protection Prize of Lower Saxony 2022
