Abstract

Current tissue-engineering approaches require improved biomaterials to balance microstructural and mechanical design criteria. We investigated the effect of adding a naturally occurring polymer, collagen, to a synthetic scaffold made of poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL). Hybrid PCL-collagen scaffolds with different collagen concentrations were prepared by solvent casting and freeze-drying techniques that included a subsequent chemical cross-linking. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were used to characterise the microstructure and chemical interactions of the scaffolds. We found that the porous structure of the scaffolds can be tailored by changing the collagen concentration. In addition, we concluded that the scaffolds with 40 collagen exhibit remarkable enhancement in physicochemical and biological characteristics for tendon regeneration. The regenerated tissues were oriented longitudinally in relation to the long axis of the natural tendon, with a substantial number of blood vessels appearing deep within the scaffolds.