Comparison of thickness, biomechanical characteristics, and absorption capacity of decellularized freeze-dried amnion membrane from human and bovine sources

Open and extensive wounds are significantly detrimental to patients. Amnion membranes as a biomaterial for wound dressings have advantages compared to skin grafts. Bovine sources do not have ethical problems and more abundant. The aim of this study was to compare the thickness, tensile and elastic properties, and absorption capacity of bovine and human amnion membrane preparations available from the tissue bank at Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital. This study is an analytical, experimental design with a post-test-only control group, with sample size of 12 for each group. It compared Freeze-dried Amnion Membranes from Bovine and Human sources in thickness in mm using a coating thickness gauge, tensile strength in N/mm2 using the material testing machine, and absorption capacity in g/cm2 using scale. The thickness of bovine amnion membranes is 0.614 ± 0.11 mm and the human source is  0.205 ± 0.04 mm. The tensile strength studies showed the bovine source has a result of 25.48 ± 3.79 N/mm² and the human source has 14.88 ± 5.63 N/mm². The absorption capacity studies showed the bovine source has a result of 0.054 ± 0.009 g/cm², while the human source showed 0.043 ± 0.0098 g/cm². This study shwed that the bovine amnion membrane is thicker, has higher tensile strength, and more water absorption power than the human amnion membrane. Freeze-dried bovine amnion membrane provides better characteristics than human sources in terms of thickness, tensile strength, and absorption capacity. Bovine amnion membrane can be a better alternative for wound dressings.