Date of Graduation
5-2022
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Degree Level
Undergraduate
Department
Biomedical Engineering
Advisor/Mentor
Song, Young Hye
Abstract
Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) generally results in permanent sensorimotor dysfunction. This is due to failed axonal regeneration at the site of injury. Recent studies have highlighted the use of stem-cell based therapies embedded in hydrogel to treat SCI. Embedding cell therapies in hydrogel provides a platform that increases the survival of both integrated grafted cells and stem cells/stem cell progeny. There are a variety of drug delivery agents for treating SCI such as neuro-regenerative cells and Schwann cells, however, single agents are not promising for functional regeneration. We propose a combinatorial approach using sciatic nerve (SN) extracellular matrix (ECM), spinal cord (SC) ECM, and embedded adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs). Pre-gel storage can be prolonged by freezing the sample. Currently, the impact of freeze-thawing on hydrogel properties is unknown. The following study aims to investigate the effects freeze-thawing has on varying hydrogel properties.
Keywords
Freeze-Thaw, Injectable Hydrogel, Spinal Cord Repair, Stem Cell-Based Therapies
Citation
Adams, J. C. (2022). Hydrogel Drug Delivery Platform Integrity and Utilization Analysis. Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/bmeguht/129