Brendan Robb, PhD student from the Neotherix-supported CASE project with Professor Sandra Downes from the School of Materials, University of Manchester, has just completed a visit to Neotherix' site in York in order to carry out comparative experiments using Neotherix' electrospinning process. Brendan has modelled Neotherix' process on the research-scale electrospinning rig and environmental chamber in Manchester, which was designed and built as part of his PhD project. The data collected during his visit to York will enable Brendan to compare and refine his model of the Neotherix process and verify how the changes in parameters such as electric field size and shape affect scaffold production when scaling up from a research-scale rig to Neotherix' manufacturing-scale process. This work supports the overall objective of Brendan's PhD project, which is to model the complex interactions between different electrospinning parameters and explore how scaffold materials produced using optimised process conditions interact with clinically relevant cell types. Now near to the end of the project, this work will help facilitate more effective translation of electrospun scaffold technology from the laboratory to the clinic and the market. |
