In Virginia, researchers from Eastern Virginia Medical School, The Frank Reidy Research Center for Bioelectrics at Old Dominion University and Embody LLC developed a new method of making collagen microfibers, called pneumatospinning. The new method uses a high-speed air-based technique that can give tremendous advantages for making collagen microfibers more quickly, easily and cheaply than ever before. This can be helpful for a wide variety of applications like ligament damage and skin burns.
Lead author Dr. Michael Francis told Phys.org, “We found the pneumatospun collagen fibres had significantly higher tensile strength compared to electrospun collagen. Also, stem cells cultured on the pneumatospun collagen showed strong cell attachment and compatibility, providing opportunities for more advanced combination therapies.”