Date Approved

10-13-2025

Embargo Period

10-13-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. Biomedical Engineering

Department

Biomedical Engineering

College

Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering

Advisor

Vince Beachley, Ph.D

Committee Member 1

Peter Galie, Ph.D.

Committee Member 2

Sebastian Vega, Ph.D.

Abstract

Regenerating highly aligned soft tissues such as nerves, skeletal muscle, and cardiac tissue remains a major challenge in biomedical engineering due to the complex structural and biochemical cues needed to guide cellular behavior. Tissue engineering scaffolds for aligned soft tissue must allow massive cell infiltration and provide cues that direct cell alignment. Aligned nanofibers offer direction cues but must be included at low density to leave room for cell population. This thesis presents a strategy for fabricating and characterizing nanofiber-embedded hydrogel composites where a permissive hydrogel matrix supports the low density aligned nanofiber architecture. We hypothesized that embedded aligned nanofibers could induce cell alignment through the hydrogel when fibers are not in direct contact with cells. Aligned polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers blended with polyethylene glycol-methacrylate (PEG-Me) were embedded within gelatin-based hydrogels via a dip coating process. Key fabrication parameters (PEG-Me content, gelatin concentration, solution temperature, withdrawal speed, and fiber density) were systematically varied to assess their effects on film thickness, fiber distribution, and scaffold architecture. Cell studies showed that nanofiber alignment significantly influenced cell morphology, promoting preferential orientation along the embedded fibers compared to randomly oriented controls. Cell alignment was induced even when the distance between cells and fibers was estimated to be >20 µm and fiber content represented only < 1% of total composite cross-sectional area. These findings validate the ability of nanofibers embedded in a hydrogel matrix to induce cell alignment without direct contact. This demonstrates a platform for engineering aligned soft tissue scaffolds and provides a foundation for future applications in 3D tissue reconstruction and regenerative medicine.

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