Collagen and PVA Crosslinked Material as Potential Candidate for the Development of Artificial Cornea

Abstract

The design and development of transparent membranes that provide good mechanical strength, water permeability, cell adhesion, less cytotoxicity and less degradation rate to cornea is a major challenge in corneal bioengineering. In current research, we fabricated collagen PVA based membranes by using different concentration of 2%, 4% and 6% of chemical crosslinker TEOF. Investigated the physical properties such as optical measurement, swelling studies, contact angle and degradation rates of membranes based on different concentration of TEOF. Results demonstrated that collagen PVA based membranes with 2% TEOF and 4% TEOF showed similar properties just like native cornea and it is a promising candidate for the development of artificial cornea for example contact angle of 2% TEOF and 4% TEOF are 54o and 570 respectively similar to the contact angle of cornea 590. These membranes showed good transparency and degradation properties.