Richard Haverkamp with Hannah Wells and Katie Sizeland (Massey University) and international collaborators (ANSTO)
Amnion is a thin collagen-based membrane that, along with chorion, makes up the innermost layer of the placenta, the amniotic membrane. Human amnion has emerged as a useful biological material in a range of surgical applications.
A major challenge is the limited selection of human amnion materials available for surgical applications. A thin and strong scaffold material would be ideal for surgical applications.
Given there is limited availability of human amnion materials, amniotic membrane from cattle and horses were investigated for this purpose. The structure and strength of these materials were characterized using the Small and Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) beamline. The amniotic membranes studied are strong, which could make these materials suitable as heterografts to replace human amniotic tissue in a variety of surgical applications.
The use of non-human tissues in surgical applications is becoming increasingly necessary and helps to alleviate the challenge of obtaining tissue from human donors. The bovine and equine material offers an additional advantage in applications requiring high strength.
Reference:
Wells HC, Sizeland KH, Kirby N, Haverkamp RG. 2022. Structure and strength of bovine and equine amniotic membrane. Biology 11(8):1096. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11081096
