Chitosan Membranes: Electrospinning a Path to Guided Bone Regeneration
Speaker:
Joel D. Bumgardner, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
The University of Memphis
Abstract:
Guided bone regeneration (GBR) membranes are an effective dental biomaterial therapy for improving the regeneration of craniomaxillofacial bone in bone-grafted sites. Their function is to preserve space and prevent soft tissue infiltration. Chitosan, a biopolymer of N-acetyl-glucosamine and glucosamine units, has shown considerable potential in overcoming many of the disadvantages of clinically used polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), collagen, or poly-L-lactide membranes, including homology with native glycosaminoglycans, osteoconductivity, degradability with non-toxic degradation products, and innate antimicrobial properties. Utilizing electrospinning we have developed electrospun chitosan membranes that mimic the natural nanofiber structures in extracellular matrix with a high interconnected porosity that also are cell occlusive. Dr. Bumgardner’s lab is developing electrospun chitosan membranes with novel post-spinning strategies that enable retention of nano-fiber structure in aqueous solutions. Their work is focused on evaluating the physical and mechanical degradation properties of the modified membranes (mock suture and bone-tac pull-out tests). Rodent critical size calvarial defect and porcine submandibular defect models have shown the ability of the electrospun chitosan membranes to provide effective barrier function and support of bone healing similar to current GBR membranes, but with the advantages of being thinner and with more predictable/longer degradation profiles. The membranes also have much potential for delivery of hydrophobic therapeutics such as raspberry ketone, a phenolic compound, for modulating inflammation and simvastatin as an alternative to BMP-2 for stimulating bone healing to create advanced bioactive GBR membranes and opening other opportunities for applications in wound care and tissue engineering.
Dr. Bumgardner obtained his BS Degree with Honors in Biology from Florida State University. Subsequently, he obtained another BS in Materials Science, an MS, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, all from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. From 1994 until 2004, he was a faculty member at Mississippi State University. He then moved to the BME Department at The University of Memphis and the University of Memphis-University of Tennessee Health Science Center Joint Graduate BME Program, where he served as Chair the BME Department from 2019-2024. Dr. Bumgardner has published over 150 papers and holds several patents, 3 of which have been licensed for infection abatement therapies. He is an elected Fellow (2011) of American Institute of Medical & Biological Engineering, an elected Fellow (2016) Biomaterials Science & Engineering. He is past president of the Society for Biomaterials and serves as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Biomaterial Materials Research.
