Student: Lincoln Busselle
Committee: Dr. Julianne Holloway & Dr. Matthew Green
Abstract:
Many tissues in the body consist of heterogenous properties that transition from one tissue to another. Musculoskeletal heterogenous tissues, such as the tendon-bone or muscle-tendon junction consist of gradients in fiber alignment, chemistry, and stiffness to dissipate mechanical loadings. Current procedures that repair injured heterogenous tissues do not sufficiently restore tissue function. As an alternative, tissue engineering is an emerging field that incorporates medicine, biology, and engineering to restore or regenerate injured tissue. Generating electrospun, biomaterial scaffolds to act as a template that mimic mechanical properties of heterogeneous tissue is critical to induce proper regeneration. For this project, an apparatus to mechanically test hydrogel fibrous scaffolds was developed for use on scaffolds with mechanical gradients. Norbornene-functionalized hyaluronic acid scaffolds were used for experimentation due to their inherent photochemistry capabilities that allow for spatiotemporal control of the degree of crosslinking between the fibers. The silicone elastomer, Sylgard 184, was used to improve the grip of the Instron clamps on the scaffold samples while tensile testing.
Zoom Room: https://asu.zoom.us/j/89698861579
Presentation Time: 12:00-1:00 PM (Arizona Time)
