Composite biomaterials offer a new approach for engineering novel, minimally-invasive scaffolds
with properties that can be modified for a range of soft tissue applications. In this study, a new
way of controlling the gelation of alginate hydrogels using Ga-based glass particles is presented.
Through a comprehensive analysis, it was shown that the setting time, mechanical strength,
stiffness and degradation properties of this composite can all be tailored for various applications.
Specifically, the hydrogel generated through using a glass particle, wherein toxic aluminium is
replaced with biocompatible gallium, exhibited enhanced properties. The material’s stiffness
matches that of soft tissues, while it displays a slow and tuneable gelation rate, making it a suitable
candidate for minimally-invasive intra-vascular injection. In addition, it was also found that this
composite can be tailored to deliver ions into the local cellular environment without affecting
platelet adhesion or compromising viability of vascular cells in vitro.
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Funders:
Enterprise Ireland Commercialization Fund (CF/2013/3364), Irish Research Council (PD/2011/2167), European Union Seventh Framework Programme, under the FP7-PEOPLE-2012-ITN (Marie Curie Actions, project No. 316973)
ID Code:
23784
Deposited On:
01 Oct 2019 11:46 by
Thomas Murtagh
. Last Modified 25 Jul 2022 13:20