PhD Defense of Hugues Mondesert from BioMMat team and Rhéologie et Procédés laboratory, UMR 5520, on monday, the 10th of february at 2pm:

" Anisotropic PCL electrospun scaffolds for soft tissue engineering: Elaboration, morphological and mechanical properties "

Place: Salle André Rassat, bât. André Rassat / Chimie E, 470 rue de la Chimie, Domaine Universitaire, 38400 Saint Martin d'Hères

Thesis supervision:

• Frédéric BOSSARD, Professeur des Universités, Université Grenoble Alpes (Director)
• Denis FAVIER, Professeur des Universités, Université Grenoble Alpes (Co-director)

Jury:

• Anne HEBRAUD, Maître de conférences, Université de Strasbourg (Reporter)
• Yves CHEMISKY, Professeur des Universités, Université de Bordeaux (Reporter)
• Daniel GRANDE, Directeur de Recherche, CNRS Ile-De-France Villejuif (Examiner)
• Claude VERDIER, Directeur de Recherche, CNRS Alpes (Examiner)

Abstract:

 

Tissue engineering technology requires porous biomaterials (scaffolds) which have to mimic as closely as possible the morphology and anisotropic mechanical properties of the native tissue to substitute. Electrospinning process is a promising technique to produce interconnected fibrous scaffolds with high porosity and surface-to-volume ratio that resemble extraordinarily to natural connective tissues. Anisotropic fibrous scaffolds fabricated by template-assisted electrospinning are investigated in this study. Fibers of electrospun Polycaprolactone (PCL) were successfully arranged spatially into honeycomb or square structures by using well-shaped 3D micro-architected metal collectors. Fibrous scaffolds present 2 to 4 mm wide patterns with low and high fiber density areas. Tensile test experiments were carried out to analyze mechanical behaviors of these new fibrous scaffolds. Honeycomb patterned mats showed significantly different mechanical properties along the two orthogonal axis directions probing the anisotropic character of the fabricated scaffolds. A finite element mode was developed, based of simple geometries of the elementary patterns, in order to reproduce the experimental tensile measurements. Numerical approach has proved relationships between microstructure and mechanical behaviors of electrospun patterned scaffolds. This new versatile method to produce architected porous materials, adjustable to several polymers and structures, will provide appealing benefits for soft regenerative medicine application and the development of custom-made scaffolds.

 

Key words :

Scaffolds, Mechanical anisotropy, Electrospinning, Honeycomb patterns, Finite element model