Abstract
Tissue-engineered skin grafts have long been considered to be the most effective treatment for large skin defects. Especially with the advent of 3D printing technology, the manufacture of artificial skin scaffold with complex shape and structure is becoming more convenient. However, the matrix material used as the bio-ink for 3D printing artificial skin is still a challenge. To address this issue, sodium alginate (SA)/carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na) blend hydrogel was proposed to be the bio-ink for artificial skin fabrication, and SA/CMC-Na (SC) composite hydrogels at different compositions were investigated in terms of morphology, thermal properties, mechanical properties, and biological properties, so as to screen out the optimal composition ratio of SC for 3D printing artificial skin. Moreover, the designed SC composite hydrogel skin membranes were used for rabbit wound defeat repairing to evaluate the repair effect. Results show that SC4:1 blend hydrogel possesses the best mechanical properties, good moisturizing ability, proper degradation rate, and good biocompatibility, which is most suitable for 3D printing artificial skin. This research provides a process guidance for the design and fabrication of SA/CMC-Na composite artificial skin.
Highlights
Skin defect resulting from burn injury is a major public health issue
Alireza et al [34] studied the physical properties of chitosan/carboxymethyl cellulose/starch biofilms as natural bio-based polymers, and the results showed that the presence of CMC-Na improved the tensile strength
Without CMC-Na, the pure sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel membrane (Figure 2f) showed a relative flat cross section, which showed a good agreement with the smooth morphology feature of SA hydrogel
Summary
Skin defect resulting from burn injury is a major public health issue. Each year millions of people around the world suffer from burn injuries, with nearly 300,000 succumbing to mortality [1]. With the development of tissue engineering, tissue-engineered skin grafting is considered to be an effective alternative treatment for severe burn injuries with large-area skin defects [10]. Usually the tissue engineering culture period is too long, during which the wound infection can result from improper protection [12]. Whether it is autologous skin grafting or tissue-engineered skin grafting, they are generally subject to some necessary constraints, such as painful skin suture operation and suture excision, which would bring great pain to patients with skin injury [13,14]. It is difficult to make tissue-engineered skin according to the shape and structural characteristics of the wound with the traditional tissue engineering technologies
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