| Biocompatible and biodegradable nanostructured materials have attracted more and more attention since they offer numerous exciting possibilities in medical sciences, such as drug delivery and tissue engineering. The increasing need for novel drug delivery systems with enhanced specificity/activity and reduced side toxicity has led to the development of nano-sized drug vehicles, which provide the advantage of delivering small molecular drugs, as well as macromolecules, via both targeted delivery and controlled release. For tissue engineering, considerable effort has been made to develop three dimensional artificial nanofibrous scaffolds, which closely resemble the natural protein nanofiber network in the extracellular matrix (ECM).;The goal of this thesis is to develop a simple and efficient method to produce nanostructured biomaterials for drug delivery or tissue engineering applications. We present here a novel strategy, referred to as nanopore-injection (N-I) method, based on the use of a nanoporous membrane that separates the feed and receiver solutions. By pumping one solution into the other, through the membrane, one can generate nanostructured materials at the exits of the membrane nanopores. The first part of the dissertation (Chapters 2, 3, 4) involves the fabrication of biodegradable nanoparticles, including hydrophobic drugs and drug-encapsulated polymeric nanoparticles, as well as exploring their applications in drug delivery. The N-I approach was designed by either anti-solvent or pH-sensitive features, and the particle size was found to be affected by the flow rate and viscosity of the feed solution and the pore size of the membrane. These nanoparticles exhibit excellent biocompatibility and sustained release capabilities. The second part of the dissertation (Chapters 5, 6) focuses on the fabrication of biodegradable nanofibrous scaffolding and their applications in tissue engineering. By using a modified N-I setup, polymers and organic/inorganic hybrid nanofibers were generated with a controlled morphology and size. The obtained nanofibrous scaffolds could support stem cell proliferation and differentiation. |
