Nano-indentation of epoxy hydro gels for soft tissue applications

Author

Wanasekara, N.D. ; Vadlamani, V.K. ; Agrawal, A. ; Chalivendra, V.B. ; Calvert, P.

Author_Institution

Univ. of Massachusetts Dartmouth, North Dartmouth, MA

fYear

2009

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

2

Abstract

Nano-indentation characterization studies on epoxy hydro gels used for soft tissue applications are conducted using atomic force microscope (AFM). Two kinds of hydro gels: (a) plain epoxy hydro gels, and (b) epoxy hydro gels reinforced with three-dimensional polyurethane fiber pattern are considered in this study. The three-dimensional fiber pattern is generated using rapid robo-casting technique. Again these two hydro gel types are tested under five different conditions: (a) dry gel, (b) saturated with certain percentage of water, (c) saturated with 100% water, (d) 100% partially immersed in water, and (e) 100% fully immersed in water. Preliminary results obtained on plain epoxy hydro gels show that the saturated conditions decrease Young´s modulus values by 15%.

Keywords

Young´s modulus; atomic force microscopy; biological tissues; biomedical materials; casting; fibre reinforced composites; nanoindentation; polymer gels; water; Young´s modulus; atomic force microscope; dry gel; epoxy hydro gels; immersion; nanoindentation; robo-casting technique; soft tissue applications; three-dimensional polyurethane fiber pattern; water; Atomic force microscopy; Biological tissues; Chemicals; Mechanical factors; Nanostructures; Needles; Optical fiber testing; Polyethylene; Polymers; Tissue engineering;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Bioengineering Conference, 2009 IEEE 35th Annual Northeast

Conference_Location

Boston, MA

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-4362-8

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-4364-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/NEBC.2009.4967784

Filename

4967784