Medical textile for ligament repair

Producing Nano fibres with electrospinning is already well known process all over the world. Electrospinning of continuous fibres is a new method of electrospinning that is used to produce useably continuous fibre that can be further processed and used as i.e. a textile. Electrospinning on metal wire is a new method researched and developed by a team on University of Oxford at Botnar Research Centre. This thesis was conducted at Botnar Research Center in association of team from NDORMS (Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences). Fibres produced with electrospinning on metal wire showed a significant leap forward in medical textiles. Fibres after electrospinning showed enough tensile strength to use them in process of twisting, weaving. Woven fabric was used to make a prototype for artificial ligament. There are different materials used in producing artificial ligaments like BEAR (Bridge-Enhanced Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair), ABC (active biosynthetic composite), LARS (ligament augmentation and reconstruction system). Material used in this thesis is PCL (polycaprolactone) because of its biodegradability, fact that it has already been used and tested as a medical fibre and is approved from FDA (Food and Drug Administration). SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope) was used to make images of electrospun fibres and compare them with real (human) ligaments. Fibres were also tested on tensile strength. Results showed a promising possibility of producing new artificial ligaments using electrospinning on wire