Artificial ligaments can help injured individuals, especially athletes, to continue to function in a normal fashion by replacing damaged ligaments. The historical development of artificial ligaments has been somewhat successful, but significant problems have been identified with nearly every replacement material that has been tested, especially in the specific context of ACL ligament replacements.
The first significant attempt at producing artificial ligaments was Gore-tex, which was made of polyfluoroethylene, and showed signs of initial success. However, long-term testing revealed that those who had these operations experienced ruptures and other complications after a few months (“Engineering,” 2013). Dacron, made of polyester, was the …show more content…
According to Pena-Francesch and others (2014), “Squid ring teeth (SRT) protein is a protein that is extracted from the ring teeth located in the muscular arms and tentacles of various squid.” SRT protein is comprised of various amino acids, three of which are glycine, histidine, and tyrosine. Glycine and histidine comprise 40-50% of the total amount of amino acids in the ring teeth. Glycine provides the SRT protein with a rubberlike elasticity, and histidine is an important component in load-bearing and impact resistance tissues. The amino acid tyrosine makes up about 10-15% of the amino acids in an SRT protein, and the hydroxy group on tyrosine allows the protein to swell from 15-20% when immersed in hydrogen-rich water. SRT protein also has a tensile strength (defined as the amount an object can be stretched before breaking) of approximately 1.5 MPa, while its shear strength (defined as the ability of an object to withstand forces that would cause the internal structure of the object to slide against itself) is approximately 2.5 MPa in wet conditions. SRT also exhibits good adhesion strength to various substrates. SRT protein can also be easily shaped: the protein is a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) that, once melted, is plasticized by water above 32 degrees Celsius. Its ability to be melted and then cooled back to a solid state allows SRT proteins to be molded into a variety of three-dimensional structures, such as ribbons, tubes, and thin films. In addition, the protein does not require any chemicals or drying time to “cure,” making it more
The first significant attempt at producing artificial ligaments was Gore-tex, which was made of polyfluoroethylene, and showed signs of initial success. However, long-term testing revealed that those who had these operations experienced ruptures and other complications after a few months (“Engineering,” 2013). Dacron, made of polyester, was the …show more content…
According to Pena-Francesch and others (2014), “Squid ring teeth (SRT) protein is a protein that is extracted from the ring teeth located in the muscular arms and tentacles of various squid.” SRT protein is comprised of various amino acids, three of which are glycine, histidine, and tyrosine. Glycine and histidine comprise 40-50% of the total amount of amino acids in the ring teeth. Glycine provides the SRT protein with a rubberlike elasticity, and histidine is an important component in load-bearing and impact resistance tissues. The amino acid tyrosine makes up about 10-15% of the amino acids in an SRT protein, and the hydroxy group on tyrosine allows the protein to swell from 15-20% when immersed in hydrogen-rich water. SRT protein also has a tensile strength (defined as the amount an object can be stretched before breaking) of approximately 1.5 MPa, while its shear strength (defined as the ability of an object to withstand forces that would cause the internal structure of the object to slide against itself) is approximately 2.5 MPa in wet conditions. SRT also exhibits good adhesion strength to various substrates. SRT protein can also be easily shaped: the protein is a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) that, once melted, is plasticized by water above 32 degrees Celsius. Its ability to be melted and then cooled back to a solid state allows SRT proteins to be molded into a variety of three-dimensional structures, such as ribbons, tubes, and thin films. In addition, the protein does not require any chemicals or drying time to “cure,” making it more