Methods of making bioactive collagen medical scaffolds such as for wound care dressings, hernia repair prosthetics, and surgical incision closure members
A method of preparing a crosslinked, collagen-based medical scaffold is provided, comprising: (a) immersing a sample of fibrous and/or non-fibrous collagen in a buffered acidic, aqueous solution comprising an alcohol (b) contacting the collagen in solution with a catalytic component comprising 1-ethyl-3-[3-dimethylaminopropyl]carbodiimide hydrochloride for a time at least sufficient to effect reaction between amino and carboxyl groups present on the collagen and to yield crosslinked collagen that is resistant to pronase degradation and (c) drying the crosslinked collagen to yield a porous, crosslinked collagen article wherein the porous, crosslinked collagen article demonstrates a pore size of 10-500 microns. Also provided are bioactive collagen medical scaffolds for wound care dressings, hernia repair prosthetics, and surgical incision closure members, prepared using the method above.