Marek Lee
Pronouns:
Research Mentor(s): Peter Ma
Research Mentor School/College/Department: University of Michigan / Dentistry
Program:
Authors:
Session: Session 5: 2:40 pm – 3:30 pm
Poster: 72
Abstract
Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) is an FDA-approved tissue engineering material. A feature of PLLA is that it allows nanofiber of 100 nm diameter to form after thermally-induced phase separation (TIPS). This structure is similar to nature collagen, which is a protein that enhance bone regeneration. While this morphology is unique to PLLA, copolymers with PLLA as graft chains could also present nanofibrous surface. Such copolymers do not only have the mimicking effect of PLLA, but could also have additional functions. To make sure the similarity of nanofibers for this new polymer and pure PLLA, we developed a SEM-ImageJ method for qualification of nanofiber as well as quantification of fiber diameter. This method aimed to identify collagen-mimicking PLLA-based polymers, and would be very helpful in any TIPS-PLLA-based copolymers used in bone regeneration
