BioCell Research
AIM
The main aim of the research activity is the development of biointegrable or bioabsorbable scaffolds with optimised morphological, structural ad surface properties for the repair and reconstruction of several biological tissues
Descrizione
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Hard tissues and cartilage
The polyurethane based polymers expansion occurring during their synthesis process, allows the production of porous biointegrable scaffolds with previously defined morphological properties (e.g., high or low densities, interconnecting or not interconnecting porosity; different porous diameter etc.).
For specific applications such as the regeneration of hard tissues in not-stressed areas, the expanded polymeric structure might be a suitable matrix for composite materials with the electric charge provided by the calcium phosphates (e.g. hydroxyapatites or tricalciumphosphates) components.
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Soft tissues
The main concern for hydrogels application in soft tissue repair is their low mechanical properties. More flexibility is given by the polyurethane-based hydrogels, that might allow to design and synthesise both bulk and porous scaffolds with a broader range of mechanical properties. These scaffolds might be optimised not only for cell ingrowth but also for drug or, more in general, biomolecules delivery system
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Biodegradabile scaffolds with defined porosity
In order to optimise the scaffold properties for the cell type involved in the defined applications, innovative technologies are being actually developed to obtain tridimensional scaffolds with interconnected spherical pores and tuneable porous shape and diameter.
