Fig. 4.

(Color online) Evaluation of degradation of conduits printed in Carbopol bath. (a) Degradation of conduits printed in CB75 and CB40. (b) Wall-thickness reduction of conduits during degradation, which showed that conduits printed in CB40 have stable thickness of wall with due to low degradation rate, while those printed in CB75 and CB40 had significant reduction in thickness especially from 5 to 7th day of degradation as shown in fluorescence images (scale bar – 500 μm). CB40 (green) and CB75 (lblue) shows Carbopol supporting baths with 40 and 75% water, respectively. (e) Schematic illustration of animal experiment for evaluation of degradation of printed conduits as nerve conduit. H&E images of (e) CB75-CB40-CB75 and (f) CB40-CB75-CB40 conduits after 3 and 10.5 months of implantation in rats (red area indicate implanted conduit). *p < 0.05, results of the printed structures in CB75 and CB40 were compared using Student's t-test.