(203c) Characterizing Collagen Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications

Developing analytical methods to report on collagen structures assembled in vitro would accelerate the pace of utilizing it in biomedical applications. This presentation will focus on our recent advances in characterizing fibrillar collagen prototype biomaterial systems prepared under the initial conditions commonly employed in contemporary biomedical, tissue engineering and medical device research. We examined the collagen nano- and micro-structures in the 3D collagen hydrogels formed at initial concentrations of 1 mg ml⁻¹ to about 5 mg ml⁻¹ , several incubation temperatures and those cross-linked with glyceraldehyde, ribose, glucose or genipin. This talk will describe the novel insights into the collagen nano-structures formed and origins of second harmonic generation signals within these hydrated scattering systems. The talk will also explain the effects of the cross-linking reagents employed to increase stiffness and strength of collagen-based hydrogels.