| AVS 60th International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces | Tuesday Sessions |
| Session BI-TuP |
| Session: | Biomaterials Interfaces Poster Session |
| Presenter: | M. Abrigo, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia |
| Authors: | M. Abrigo, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia S.M. McArthur, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia P. Kingshott, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Diabetic, pressure, venous and arterial ulcers are a large social, economic and healthcare burden. These chronic non-healing wounds show delayed and incomplete healing processes exposing patients to high risk of infection. Chronic wound care currently focuses on dressings capable of preventing microbial infiltration and keeping a balanced moisture and gas exchange environment. The design of dressings that combine the necessary morphological and physical requirements for wound healing with the value-added capability to address optimal cell responses and impair bacterial proliferation represents a major challenge in wound care.
Polymeric nanofibrous meshes are good candidates as wound dressings and cell scaffolds due to their high surface area, micro-porosity and non-woven structure. Electrospinning is used for the fabrication of these structures because it is a simple, cost-effective and reproducible process. Moreover, electrospinning enables fibres of synthetic and natural polymers to be combined as multifunctional dressings capable of addressing a range of wound challenges.
In this study, a range of different synthetic polymers (Poly-lactic acid, Poly-glycolic acid and Polycaprolactone) have been blended and the parameters of the electrospinning process (such as spinning rate and electric field intensity) optimized to achieve a nanofibrous membrane. The morphological properties of the electrospun meshes have been analysed by three-dimensional optical profiler, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). As the first step to understand microbial infiltration and control in wound dressings, a number of studies have been completed using E. Coli, P. Aeruginosa, S. Aureus in an effort to understand how the morphological and structural properties of the electrospun meshes influence bacterial attachment, proliferation and growth.