Preparation and performance analysis of medical polylactic acid glycolic acid (PLGA) acellular cartilage scaffolds

Objective To develop a medical polylactic acid glycolic acid (PLGA)/acellular cartilage scaffold and analyze its properties. Methods The experimental groups were divided according to the composition ratio of PLGA to acellular cartilage matrix: control group (without acellular cartilage matrix group), experimental group A (mass composition ratio of PLGA to acellular cartilage matrix was 1.5:1) and experimental group B (composition ratio was 3:1). Each group was subdivided into three groups according to three different experimental temperatures (5℃, ‐10℃ and ‐20℃), and the sample size of each group was 30. PLGA and PLGA/ acellular cartilage scaffolds with different temperature and composition ratios were prepared, and their pore size, porosity, water binding force, biomechanical properties, degradation rate and so on were studied. Results The pore size of the scaffold was affected by different temperature. With the decrease of temperature, the pore size of the scaffold decreased ( P <0.05). Temperature had no significant effect on the porosity, hydrophilicity and elastic modulus of the scaffold ( P >0.05). Different proportions of polymer scaffolds had no significant effect on the pore size and elastic modulus of scaffolds ( P >0.05), but had effect on the porosity and hydrophilicity of scaffolds. With the increase of acellular matrix in polymer scaffolds, the hydrophilicity of scaffolds increased, but the porosity decreased ( P <0.05). Under the same ratio of PLGA to acellular cartilage matrix, with the extension of degradation time, the degradation rate of scaffolds at higher temperature was higher than that at lower temperature ( P <0.05). Under the condition of constant temperature, the scaffolds with high acellular cartilage matrix degraded faster than those with low acellular cartilage matrix ( P <0.05). Conclusion PLGA‐acellular cartilage matrix scaffolds prepared at different experimental temperatures and polymer ratios meet the requirements of tissue engineering scaffolds and are a kind of biological scaffolds worthy of further study.