Electrospun Nano-Fibers for Biomedical and Tissue Engineering Applications: A Comprehensive Review.

Pharmaceutical nano-fibers have attracted widespread attention from researchers for reasons such as adaptability of the electro-spinning process and ease of production. As a flexible method for fabricating nano-fibers, electro-spinning is extensively used. An electro-spinning unit is composed of a pump or syringe, a high voltage current supplier, a metal plate collector and a spinneret. Optimization of the attained nano-fibers is undertaken through manipulation of the variables of the process and formulation, including concentration, viscosity, molecular mass, and physical phenomenon, as well as the environmental parameters including temperature and humidity. The nano-fibers achieved by electro-spinning can be utilized for drug loading. The mixing of two or more medicines can be performed via electro-spinning. Facilitation or inhibition of the burst release of a drug can be achieved by the use of the electro-spinning approach. This potential is anticipated to facilitate progression in applications of drug release modification and tissue engineering (TE). The present review aims to focus on electro-spinning, optimization parameters, pharmacological applications, biological characteristics, and in vivo analyses of the electro-spun nano-fibers. Furthermore, current developments and upcoming investigation directions are outlined for the advancement of electro-spun nano-fibers for TE. Moreover, the possible applications, complications and future developments of these nano-fibers are summarized in detail.

Preparing diopside nanoparticle scaffolds via space holder method: Simulation of the compressive strength and porosity.

In the present study, diopside nanopowders were prepared via mechanical milling with eggshell as the calcium source. The space holder method (compaction of ceramic powder and spacer) as one of the most important methods to produce ceramic/metal scaffolds was used to produce diopside scaffolds. For the first time, the effect of the spacer size on mechanical properties and porosity of the obtained scaffolds was experimentally discussed. According to the results obtained, the NaCl particles (as the spacer) with the size of 400-600µm maintained their original spherical shape during the compaction and sintering processes. As a new work, the most important parameters including the spacer type, spacer concentration, spacer size, and applied pressure were considered, and their effects on mechanical properties and porosity of diopside scaffolds were simulated. Gene Expression Programming (GEP), as one of the most branches of the artificial intelligence, was used for simulation process. By using the GEP, two equations were introduced to predict the compressive strength and porosity of the obtained scaffolds with the lowest error values. The 3D diagrams extracted from the model were used to evaluate the combined effect of the process parameters on the compressive strength and porosity of the scaffolds. The GEP model presented in this work has a very low level of error and a high level of the squared regression for predicting the compressive strength and porosity of diopside scaffolds.

On the synthesis of nanostructured akermanite scaffolds via space holder method: The effect of the spacer size on the porosity and mechanical properties.

In the present study, for the first time, the space holder method was used to prepare akermanite scaffolds with high porous structures, high interconnectivity, and high compressive strength, while the role of different spacer sizes on the akermanite scaffold properties was also evaluated. The results showed that the increase in the NaCl particle size which was used as spacer leads to an increase of the pore size and interconnectivity and a decrease of compressive strength. When the size of the spacer was 420-600µm and more than 600µm, a total porosity of 82 and 83% and a compressive strength of 0.86 and 0.82MPa were obtained, respectively. These values are higher than those reported in previously studies and provide a great potential for akermanite to be used as bone substitute in tissue engineering. The in vitro bioactivity of the obtained akermanite scaffolds was also investigated.

A comparative study on the synthesis mechanism, bioactivity and mechanical properties of three silicate bioceramics.

In the present study three akermanite (Ca2MgSi2O7), diopside (CaMgSi2O6) and baghdadite (Ca3ZrSi2O9) applicable bioceramics were synthesized via a sol-gel based method. The combination of sol-gel method and the raw materials used in this study presents a new route for the synthesis of the mentioned bioceramics. By the use of thermal analysis, the mechanisms occurred during the synthesis of these bioceramics were investigated. The differences in the structural density and their relation with the degradation rate and mechanical properties of all three ceramics were studied. In vitro bioactivity and apatite formation mechanisms of the samples soaked in the simulated body fluid were considered. The results showed that baghdadite as a Zr-containing material has a more dense structure in comparison with the other ceramics, which leads to a lower degradation rate and also lower bioactivity. There were also main differences between akermanite and diopside as Mg-containing ceramics. Diopside showed a structure with lower porosity content compared to the akermanite samples which resulted in the lower degradation rate and higher compressive strength.