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Browsing Undergraduate Works by Subject "Absorption"

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    Development of Biocompatible Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel for Nerve Nano-Clip Fabrication
    (University of Oregon, 2021) Rajabzadeh, Hossein; Townsend, Jakob; Brown, Morgan; Gilbert, Annie; Hettiaratchi, Marian; Hettiaratchi, Marian; Townsend, Jakob; Gardner, Tim
    Implantable electronic devices can stabilize abnormal electrical activity between neurons in the nervous system to restore sensory-motor function. The Gardner Lab has designed, 3D-printed, and implanted nano-scale nerve clips (NNCs) onto the tracheosyringeal nerve of Zebra finches to stabilize electrical activity between neurons. However, NNCs fabricated from Ormocomp and IP-Dip stimulated a mild inflammatory response in the surrounding nerve tissue. To improve upon this design, we developed hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels that could be photo-crosslinked to create a NNCs that would elicit negligible inflammation. A minimally-swelling hydrogel was required to avoid nerve damage. HA was modified with methacrylate groups using 2.5x, 5x, 10x molar excesses of methacrylic anhydride to HA to form methacrylated HA (MeHA). 1H NMR spectroscopy revealed the modification levels of 2.5x, 5x, 10x MeHA to be 30%, 46%, and 54% respectively. MeHA was chemically crosslinked under ultraviolet light in presence of photo-initiator to form hydrogels. The initial weight of 2.5x, 5x, 10x MeHA hydrogels post-gelation and weight after incubation in phosphate-buffered saline for 14 days were used to calculate average swelling ratios of 1.01, 1.01, and 0.92, respectively, indicating minimal swelling. These results and preliminary studies demonstrating that MeHA hydrogels could be 3D-printed using a 2-photon printer suggest that MeHA could be amendable for use in NNCs.