Collagen fibres by thermoplastic and wet spinning

Collagen threads of high yardage were manufactured by two different techniques being wet spinning of collagen dispersions and melt spinning of thermoplastic collagen. The fibres were characterised according to their structural, textile physical and biochemical properties. The wet spun fibres showed higher physical stability than the thermoplastic spun ones. Both fibre types were cross linked with different agents (formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimid (EDC)) to increase mechanical stability as well as to lower susceptibility against enzymatic attack. Fibres cross linked by 0.1% glutaraldehyde as well as non cross linked fibres showed no cytotoxic effect against mouse fibroblasts.