Crosslinked PVA membranes were fabricated by solution casting of the substituted PVA (SPVA), synthesized by the reaction of PVA with glycidyl acrylate (GMA) without catalyst in different molar ratios [-OH(PVA)/GMA], followed by electron beam irradiation. The chemical changes in the SPVA compared to PVA were confirmed from H-NMR and FT-IR analysis. Crosslinking degree and dimensional stability of the crosslinked PVA membranes also investigated by measuring gel fraction and dimensional change of the membranes under acidic and basic solution.
Multilayer Poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA)/ Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) bone plates were fabricated using electrospinning and in vitro investigations were carried out for pre-clinical biocompatibility studies. The initial cellular cytotoxicity of the methacrylate (PMMA)/ Poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) bone plates was measured by MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay using fibroblast-like L-929 cells. Cellular adhesion and differentiation studies were carried out using osteoblast-like MG-63 cells. As simulated body fluid (SBF) contains the same ionic concentration of body fluid and any bioactive material tends to deposit bone-like apatite on the samples surfaces into the SBF, in vitro bioactivity of the multilayer bone plates were investigated using SBF. We also studied the internal organization and tensile strength of the multilayer PMMA/PVA bone plates using micro-computed topography (μ-CT) and universal testing instrument (UTI, Korea) respectively. The cellular cytotoxicity study with MTT confirmed that the cellular viability was 78 to 90% which indicates good cyto-compatibility. Scanning electron microscopic findings revealed a good attachment and adhesion phenomenon of MG-63 cells onto the surfaces of the samples. Cellular differentiation studies also showed that osteogenic differentiation was switched on in a timely manner and affirmed along with that of the control group. Bone-like apatite formation on the surfaces was confirmed within 14 days of SBF incubation. Initial organizations of the multilayer PMMA/PVA bone plates were characterized as dense and uniform. The tensile strength of the post-pressing electronspun mat was higher than that of the pre-electronspun mat. These results suggest that a multilayer PMMA/PVA bone plate system is biocompatible, bioactive and a very good alternative bone plate system.