Disc herniation is one of the most ubiquitous healthcare problems in modern cities-severe patients eventually require surgical intervention. However, the existing operations-spinal fusion and artificial disc replacement-alter the biomechanics of the spine, leaving much room for improvement. The appropriateness of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) for biomedical applications has been recognised due to its high water content, excellent biocompatibility, and versatile mechanical properties in the area of artificial cartilage and knee meniscus. In this study, a newly-designed PVA-bacterial cellulose (PVA-BC) composite was assembled to mimic both the biomechanics and annular structure of natural intervertebral discs (IVDs). PVA-BC composites of various concentrations were fabricated and tested under unconfined compression and compressive creep in order to acquire the values of the normalised compressive stiffness and whole normalised deformation. The normalised compressive stiffness increased considerably with an increasing PVA concentration, spanning from 1.82 (±0.18) to 3.50 (±0.14) MPa, and the whole normalised deformation decreased from 0.25 to 0.13. Formulations of 40% PVA provided the most accurate mimicry of natural human IVDs in normalised whole deformation, and demonstrated higher dimensional stability. The biocompatible results further confirmed that the materials had excellent biocompatibility. The novel bionic structure and formulations of the PVA-BC materials mimicked the biomechanics and structure of natural IVDs, and ensured dimensional stability under prolonged compression, reducing the risk of impingement on the surrounding tissue. The PVA-BC composite is a promising material for third-generation artificial IVDs with integrated construction.
Keywords: PVA-BC; biomechanics; creep; intervertebral disc; unconfined compression.