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Article Dans Une Revue Acta Biomaterialia Année : 2023

Versatile fiber-reinforced hydrogels to mimic the microstructure and mechanics of human vocal-fold upper layers

Résumé

Human vocal folds are remarkable soft laryngeal structures that enable phonation due to their unique vibro-mechanical performances. These properties are tied to their specific fibrous architecture, especially in the upper layers, which comprise a gel-like composite called lamina propria. The lamina propria can withstand large and reversible deformations under various multiaxial loadings. Despite their importance, the relationships between the microstructure of vocal folds and their resulting macroscopic properties remain poorly understood. There is a need for versatile models that encompass their structural complexity while mimicking their mechanical features. In this study, we present a candidate model inspired by histological measurements of the upper layers of human vocal folds. Bi-photonic observations were used to quantify the distribution, orientation, width, and volume fraction of collagen and elastin fibers between histological layers. Using established biomaterials, polymer fiber-reinforced hydrogels were developed to replicate the fibrillar network and ground substance of native vocal fold tissue. To achieve this, jet-sprayed poly(ε-caprolactone) fibrillar mats were successfully impregnated with poly(L-lysine) dendrimers/polyethylene glycol hydrogels. The resulting composites exhibited versatile structural, physical and mechanical properties that could be customized through variations in the chemical formulation of their hydrogel matrix, the microstructural architecture of their fibrous networks (i.e., fiber diameter, orientation and volume fraction) and their assembly process. By mimicking the collagen network of the lamina propria with polymer fibers and the elastin/ground substance with the hydrogel composition, we successfully replicated the non-linear, anisotropic, and viscoelastic mechanical behavior of the vocal-fold upper layers, accounting for inter/intra-individual variations. The development of this mimetic model offers promising avenues for a better understanding of the complex mechanisms involved in voice production.
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hal-04236439 , version 1 (10-11-2023)

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Daniel Ferri-Angulo, Hamid Yousefi-Mashouf, Margot Michel, Anne Mcleer, Laurent Orgéas, et al.. Versatile fiber-reinforced hydrogels to mimic the microstructure and mechanics of human vocal-fold upper layers. Acta Biomaterialia, 2023, 172 (December), pp.92-105. ⟨10.1016/j.actbio.2023.09.035⟩. ⟨hal-04236439⟩
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