PLA-Animal Collagen Scaffold Sterilization for Low-Swelling Cartilage Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current biomaterial scaffolds for articular cartilage repair, particularly those made of polylactide (PLA) and recombinant human collagen, face challenges such as immune responses, swelling issues, and inadequate biomechanical properties, limiting their effectiveness and safety for clinical use.
Innovation Solution
A scaffold composed of 5-25% animal collagen and 75-95% PLA, prepared under aseptic conditions and sterilized without significant temperature rise, to minimize degradation and enhance biomechanical stability, reducing swelling by up to 98% compared to recombinant collagen-based scaffolds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If recombinant human collagen is used in the scaffold, then immune response safety is improved, but swelling control deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the source parameter of collagen from recombinant human to animal-derived, which fundamentally alters the protein structure and properties. This parameter change results in reduced swelling while maintaining biocompatibility, as the animal collagen's imperfect triple-helical structure creates less water binding capacity compared to recombinant human collagen
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite scaffold combining PLA (polylactide) and animal collagen in specific ratios (70-90% PLA and 10-30% collagen). This composite approach leverages the mechanical strength of PLA and the biocompatibility of animal collagen, achieving both structural integrity and reduced swelling through the synergistic interaction of materials
2Reliability
If sterilization is performed to ensure safety, then reliability is improved, but degradation of ingredients deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces thermal sterilization (mechanical/thermal system) with radiation sterilization (electromagnetic system). Gamma irradiation sterilizes the scaffold without generating significant heat, thereby avoiding thermal degradation of the collagen and PLA materials while ensuring complete sterility
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the phase transition properties of water and collagen during freeze-drying. By controlling the freezing and sublimation phases, the scaffold achieves both sterility and preservation of collagen structure, as the low-temperature phase transition process avoids denaturation that would occur with high-temperature sterilization
3Reliability
If animal collagen is used in the scaffold, then swelling is reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary processing of animal collagen by extracting and purifying it before scaffold fabrication. The collagen is pre-treated to achieve the desired concentration and structural properties, which simplifies the subsequent scaffold assembly process and ensures consistent swelling reduction performance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent optimizes the concentration parameter of animal collagen in the scaffold to specific ranges (10-30%). This parameter optimization balances the swelling reduction benefit with manufacturing simplicity, as moderate collagen concentrations are easier to handle and process than higher concentrations while still achieving the desired swelling control
Data Source
AI summary
A sterilized PLA-collagen scaffold comprising animal collagen and a method for preparing a sterilized scaffold for medical use, the method comprising the steps of:i) Loading animal collagen to a fiber mesh containing fibers of polylactide polymer or copolymer (commonly denoted PLA) to obtain a PLA-collagen scaffold,ii) Drying the PLA-collagen scaffold obtained from step i),iii) Sterilizing the PLA-collagen scaffold obtained from the drying step ii) to obtain the sterilized scaffold.The sterilized scaffold obtained has improved biomechanical and physical properties compared with an unsterilized scaffold.