Drying of porcine dermal tissue via pressure swing adsorption

Abstract

Due to its close concordance with human tissue, porcine dermal tissues are often used as an acellular implant for skin regeneration in the field of tissue engineering. Generally, moisture within the dermal tissue has to be removed to preserve them until time for clinical applications. To investigate the drying kinetics of porcine dermal tissue under different drying conditions, a novel pressure swing adsorption dehydration (PSAD) system has been proposed for preliminary moisture removal. In this study, several process parameters were varied, namely, amplitude of pressure swing, depressurizing-pressurizing phase duration, and chamber temperature. In addition, a desiccant bed was incorporated to the experimental rig to maintain drying chamber humidity. Employing this pressure-swing drying technique, up to 50% of moisture from porcine dermal tissue could be easily removed within a relatively short period of time. Experimental results indicated that lower depressurized levels and higher frequency of pressure drops and chamber temperature improved dehydration rate. Color change for the dermal tissue was observed to be generally low, indicating low oxidation. Scanning electron microscopic study of the pore structure from pressure-swing adsorption dried dermal tissue showed samples having numerous internal channels. PSAD, therefore, has proven to be a highly effective drying technology to rapidly obtain partially dried dermal tissue while minimizing product quality deterioration.