An evaluation of the biocompatibility properties of a salt-modified polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel for a knee meniscus application

  • Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl. 2016 Feb:59:894-900. doi: 10.1016/j.msec.2015.10.052.
Jennifer C Hayes  1 ,  James E Kennedy  2
Affiliations
  • 1. Centre for Industrial Services and Design, Athlone Institute of Technology, Co. Westmeath, Ireland.
  • 2. Centre for Industrial Services and Design, Athlone Institute of Technology, Co. Westmeath, Ireland. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 26652445 DOI: 10.1016/j.msec.2015.10.052
Abstract

The treatment of irreparable knee meniscus tears remains a major challenge for the orthopaedic community. The main purpose of this research was to analyse the biocompatibility properties of a salt-modified polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel, in order to assess its potential for use as an artificial meniscal implant. Aqueous polyvinyl alcohol was treated with a sodium sulphate solution to precipitate out the polyvinyl alcohol resulting in a pliable hydrogel. Cytotoxicological analysis indicates that PVA/sodium sulphate hydrogels display a non-toxic disposition and were found to be compatible with the L929 fibroblast cell line.

Keywords
Biocompatibility; Cytotoxicological analysis; Hydrogel; Meniscus; Polyvinyl alcohol.
Products