(182ad) Fabrication of Porous Polysaccharide Based Biomaterials with Active Therapeutic Delivery Capability Using Supercritical CO2

In the 21^st century, development of novel biodegradable materials for the incorporation of antimicrobial and other healing agents will be one of the top priorities in the field of modern medicine and pharmacy. If biodegradable materials are used, they can be easily extracted from the body after they have served their purpose. In medicine, polysaccharide based biomaterials offer great potential as drug delivery carriers, in wound dressings, for orthopedic devices, for dental applications and tissue engineering. Developed porous matrices should be biocompatible, biodegradable and readily assessable with the ability of the structure of pores of different shapes and sizes. Only a limited number of techniques have been used for fabrication of porous biomaterials with bioactive therapeutic drug-delivery capability. Using novel supercritical fluid technology under mild temperatures provides key processing advantages: thermal and solvent sensitive substances can be processed easily whilst preserving their structure and function. These fluids can be easily removed from the scaffold, eliminating the need for additional processing steps and presenting a non-toxic alternative for biomaterial processing.

Several scaffolds in which sensitive bioactive molecules (proteins, natural extracts, and antibacterial drugs) are incorporated will be evaluated for their ability as controlled-release and antimicrobial carriers. In order to control protein/drug release patterns, during the design of multifunctional scaffolds, the effect of processing parameters on scaffolds microstructure (porosity) and on the resulting protein/drug release profile, stability, biodegradation behavior, as well as the scaffolds’ mechanical properties will be investigated to support the proliferation of cells and tissue growth. Scaffolds incorporated with antimicrobial agents will be challenged against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria), the prevailing virulent bacteria for early infections, and Escherichia coli (gram-negative bacteria), a common bacterial source of intra-hospital infections. Biocompatibility of scaffolds obtained with open pore structure will confirmed with live/dead assay, after sufficient time for cell culture.