Minimally invasive soft tissue repair using shrunken scaffolds
Mingjun Xie, Shengxi Jin, Kang Yu, Hui Lin, Yong He
Abstract
The minimally invasive injection of tissue engineering scaffolds is of interest as it requires a smaller incision and quickens recovery. However, the engineering of scaffolds capable of injection remains a challenge. Here, we report on a shrunken scaffold inspired by the shrinking of puffed food in a humid environment. A scaffold is freeze-dried to remove water then placed in a humid atmosphere. The humidity causes the dry scaffold to shrink by up to 90%. In addition, the humidity treatment reduces the scaffolds modulus minimizing the foreign body response after implantation. The scaffolds can rapidly swell into their original size and shape after application. A tool for the delivery of the minimally invasive scaffolds is developed and we demonstrate the potential for minimally invasive delivery using this shrinking technique. Minimally invasive insertion requires small sizes of scaffolds. Here, the authors inspired by the shrinking of puffed food in humid air develop a hydrogel scaffold posttreatment where lyophilization and dampening result in scaffold shrinkage of 90% in volume with post-surgery size recovery and lower foreign body response.