Fabricate coaxial stacked nerve conduits through soft lithography and molding processes

Abstract

In this article we present a new way to fabricate nerve conduits with various multi-channels patterns by microfabrication. Soft lithography was used to manufacture silicon-based structures and replicate them with PDMS for producing nerve conduit subunit molds. After that, 3% chitosan/acetic acid solution was filled into PDMS molds and then hardened and peeled off. Nerve conduit subunits were fabricated repeatedly by a set of methods for mass production. Afterward, a plurality of conduit subunits stacked coaxially and coated with outer membrane to form the whole nerve conduit. Because of the precise capability of soft lithography, it is well-suited for nerve conduits with complex designs, such as a combination of multiple degradation control and drug delivery system. Besides, the miniaturization and batch processes are serviceable to the economic effect and the utilization in industry.