Electro-compacted collagen for corneal bioengineering

The rapid development of biomaterials and biotechnology has advanced corneal bioengineering during the past decade. Collagen, the main component of human cornea which is responsible for maintaining its transparency and mechanical properties, has attracted unparalleled attention and demonstrated promising prospective on the preparation of bioengineered cornea, due to its outstanding biocompatibility both in vitro and in vivo. The main difficulties for utilizing collagen for corneal bioengineering reside in how to fabricate a structure that mimics natural cornea. The main goal of this study is to design and prepare scaffolds that exhibit a structure that mimics the native cornea while possessing the physiochemical and biological properties required by qualified corneal substitutes. Collagen membranes were fabricated using an electro-compaction method and applied either as substrates for corneal epithelial bioengineering or as structural layers to rebuild a corneal stromal model.