3D Bioplotter Research Papers

The fabrication of neural interfaces (NIs) typically relies nowadays on the implementation of complex, expensive, and time-consuming photolithographic processes. Metals and polymers are the materials currently used to fabricate NIs. Conductive polymers could be an alternative to metals to enhance the biocompatibility of the devices. Additive manufacturing techniques provide an easier and low-cost approach to process and finely tuning the geometrical and morphological features of polymers. Here, we propose a 3D printing strategy for the fabrication of completely polymeric neural interfaces, based on extrusion printing. The materials have been chosen to enhance the biocompatibility of the devices. PDMS has been…

Tissue engineering based on bioprinting technology has broad prospects in the treatment of critical-sized bone defect. Nevertheless, it is challenging to construct composite tissues or organs with structural integrity. Periosteum and stem cells are important in bone regeneration, and it has been shown that co-culture engineering system could successfully repair bone defects. Here, a strategy of co-culture bioprinting was proposed, and a tissue-engineered bone-periosteum biphasic complex was designed. Poly-L-lactic acid/hydroxyapatite (PLLA/HA) was used to construct the supporting scaffold of bone phase. Gelatin methacryl (GelMA) loaded with rabbit bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and periosteum-derived stem cells (PDSCs) were used to…

Systemic chemotherapy after surgery is necessary to control tumor recurrence, but the severe side effects caused by chemotherapeutic drugs pose a great threat to patients’ health. In this study, we originally develop a porous scaffold used for chemotherapy drug capture by using 3D printing technology. The scaffold is mainly composed of poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and polyetherimide (PEI) with a mass ratio of 5/1. Subsequently, the printed scaffold is modified with DNA through the strong electrostatic integration between DNA and PEI to endow the scaffold with the specific absorption to doxorubicin (DOX, a widely used chemotherapy drug). The results show that…

Additive manufacturing is one the most promising fabrication strategies for the fabrication of bone tissue scaffolds using biodegradable semi-crystalline polymers. During the fabrication process, polymeric material in a molten state is deposited in a platform and starts to solidify while cooling down. The build-up of consecutive layers reheats the previously deposited material, introducing a complex thermal cycle with impacts on the overall properties of printed scaffolds. Therefore, the accurate prediction of these thermal cycles is significantly important to properly design the additively manufactured polymer scaffolds and the bonding between the layers. This paper presents a novel multi-stage numerical model, integrating…

The printability of bioink and post-printing cell viability is crucial for extrusion-based bioprinting. A proper bioink not only provides mechanical support for structural fidelity, but also serves as suitable three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment for cell encapsulation and protection. In this study, a hydrogel-based composite bioink was developed consisting of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) as the continuous phase and decellularised extracellular matrix microgels (DMs) as the discrete phase. A flow-focusing microfluidic system was employed for the fabrication of cell-laden DMs in a high-throughput manner. After gentle mixing of the DMs and GelMA, both rheological characterisations and 3D printing tests showed that the resulting…

3D printed bioceramics derived from preceramic polymers are of great interest in bone tissue engineering due to their simplified fabrication processes. In this study, three-dimensional (3D) porous β-Ca2SiO4 scaffolds incorporated with ZrO2 were fabricated from silicone resin loaded with active CaCO3 and inert ZrO2 fillers by 3D printing. The fabricated scaffolds possessed uniform interconnected macropores with a high porosity (> 67%). The results showed that the increase of ZrO2 incorporation significantly enhanced the compressive strength, and stimulated cell proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts. Importantly, the in vivo results indicated that the ZrO2-incorporated β-Ca2SiO4 scaffolds improved osteogenic capacity compared to pure…

Infection is one of the pivotal causes of nonunion in large bone defect after trauma or tumor resection. Three-dimensional (3D) composite scaffold with multifunctional-therapeutic properties offer many advantages over allogenic or xenogenic bone grafting for the restoration of challenging infected bone defects. In the previous study, we demonstrated that quaternized chitosan (HACC)-grafted polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA)/hydroxyapatite (HA) scaffold (PLGA/HA/HACC) via 3D-printing technique exhibited significantly improved antimicrobial and osteoconductive property in vitro, together with good biocompatibility in vivo. Hence, the present study further investigated whether such an innovative bone substitute could effectively inhibit the bacterial biofilm formation and promote bone regeneration in vivo.…

Silicate bioceramic scaffolds are of great interest in bone tissue engineering, but the fabrication of silicate bioceramic scaffolds with complex geometries is still challenging. In this study, three-dimensional (3D) porous β-Ca2SiO4 scaffolds have been successfully fabricated from preceramic resin loaded with CaCO3 active filler by 3D printing. The fabricated β-Ca2SiO4 scaffolds had uniform interconnected macropores (ca. 400 μm), high porosity (>78%), enhanced mechanical strength (ca. 5.2 MPa), and excellent apatite mineralization ability. Importantly, the results showed that the increase of sintering temperature significantly enhanced the compressive strength and the scaffolds sintered at higher sintering temperature stimulated the adhesion, proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity,…

Contaminated or infected bone defects remain serious challenges in clinical trauma and orthopaedics, and a bone substitute with both osteoconductivity and antibacterial properties represents an improvement for treatment strategy. In this study, quaternized chitosan (hydroxypropyltrimethyl ammonium chloride chitosan, HACC) was grafted to 3D-printed scaffolds composed of polylactide-co-glycolide (PLGA) and hydroxyapatite (HA), in order to design bone engineering scaffolds endowed with antibacterial and osteoconductive properties. We found that both the PLGA/HA/HACC and PLGA/HACC composite scaffolds decreased bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation under in vitro and in vivo conditions. Additionally, ATP leakage assay indicated that immobilizing HACC on the scaffolds could effectively…

Synthetic polymeric scaffolds are commonly used in bone tissue engineering (BTE) due to their biocompatibility and adequate mechanical properties. However, their hydrophobicity and the lack of specific cell recognition sites confined their practical application. In this study, to improve the cell seeding efficiency and osteoinductivity, an injectable thermo-sensitive chitosan hydrogel (CSG) was incorporated into a 3D-printed poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffold to form a hybrid scaffold. To demonstrate the feasibility of this hybrid system for BTE application, rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) were encapsulated in CSG. Pure PCL scaffolds were used as controls. Cell proliferation…