Abstract

ESCOBAR SIERRA, Diana Marcela; URREA LLANO, Carlos Alberto; GUTIERREZ GUERRA, Mariana  and  ZAPATA OCAMPO, Paola Andrea. PRODUCTION OF SCAFFOLDS USING CHITOSAN EXTRACTED FROM CRUSTACEANS. Rev. ing. biomed. [online]. 2011, vol.5, n.9, pp.20-25. ISSN 1909-9762.

Chitosan is present in crustacean shells and it has been used in the fields of medicine and tissue engineering for the construction of scaffolds that support cell growth. In this study, chitosan was extracted from crustacean shells and processed into scaffolds with controlled microstructure using a simple processing method presented herein. The scaffolds were prepared by freezing and lyophilization of chitosan solutions and were characterized by scanning electron microscopy. The results showed a chitosan with an X-ray diffraction spectrum similar to that of a commercial chitosan, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the extraction protocol. Microscopy showed oval and circular pores distributed on the bulk sample, with pore diameters between 100 µm and 150 µm. This shows that the proposed fabrication method provides a starting point for the construction of porous scaffolds that may support cell growth.

Keywords : Lyophilization; Scaffolds; Porosity; Chitosan.

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