Fabrication of Silk-Gelatin Based Corneal Analogs Using Electrospinning Technique

Blindness due to cornea as the second major cause after cataract
and allograft is the most common technique used to treat
corneal blindness. The demand of high quality donor corneas
is significantly higher compared to availability. To meet this
scenario, Tissue Engineering (TE) has become an emerging
field of interest in replacement of allograft. Tissue engineering
approach deals with biodegradable or non-biodegradable
scaffold with cells incorporated inside to mimic the scenario of
Extracellular Matrix (ECM) inner environment of an organism
and must have the ability to function as body organ temporarily.
The researchers have proposed many approaches that
could meet the elevating demand of cornea. These approaches
could satisfy a few aspects but require more relevant approach
to mimic the corneal architecture. The published reports show
the importance of gelatin in terms of transparency and cellular
biocompatibility; usage of electrospinning with respect to
fibrous alignment and mechanical strength, and exploitation
of silk as a transparent, biocompatible and mechanically strongest
material. We, for the first time, have proposed a combined
approach to meet almost all the features of the cornea into a
single scaffold.

Author(s): Ajay Kumar Sahi

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