TY - BOOK AU - Sundbacka,C. AU - Hadlockb,T. AU - Cheneyb,M. AU - Vacanti,J. TI - Manufacture of porous polymer nerve conduits by a novel low-pressure injection molding process KW - PERIPHERAL NERVE REGENERATION KW - POLYMER PROCESSING KW - NERVE CONDUIT KW - BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER KW - SCHWANN CELLS KW - TISSUE ENGINEERING N2 - A method to fabricate porous, biodegradable conduits using a combined injection molding, thermally induced phase transition technique was developed which produced conduits with dimensionally toleranced, longitudinally aligned channels. The geometry of the channels was designed to approximate the architecture of peripheral nerves and to support the monolayer adherence of physiologically relevant numbers of Schwann cells. The channel configuration could be varied from a single 1.35mm diameter channel up to 100 0.08mm diameter channels. A conduit with 100 channels has approximately 12.5 times the lumenal surface area of a single channel conduit and supports the adherence of five times the number of Schwann cells in the native peripheral nerve. In this study, poly(dl-lactide-co-glycolide)(dl-PLGA)was dissolved in acetic acid and injected into a cold mold which induced solid liquid phase separation and, ultimately, solidification of the polymer solution. The acetic acid was removed by sublimation and the resulting foam had a macrostructure of high anisotropy. Semi-permeable skins formed on the outer and lumen diameters of the conduit as a consequence of rapid quenching. Macropores were organized into bundles of channels, up to 20 mm wide, in the dl- PLGA matrix and represented remnants of acetic acid that crystallized during solidification UR - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1miqD3vywC-UifRBreCigqUL1g44LjKIO/view?usp=drivesdk ER -