3D Bioplotter Research Papers

Critical-sized bone defects, caused by congenital disorders or trauma, are defects that will not heal spontaneously and require surgical intervention. Recent advances in biomaterial design for the treatment of such defects focus on improving their osteoinductive properties. Here, we propose a bioactive composite with high ceramic content composed of poly(ethyleneoxide terephthalate)/poly(butylene terephthalate) (1000PEOT70PBT30, PolyActive, PA) and 50 % beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) with the addition of zinc in a form of a coating on the TCP particles. Due to its essential role in bone homeostasis, we hypothesised that the addition of zinc to the polymer-ceramic composite will further enhance its osteogenic…

Poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) is a star biodegradable polymer widely studied and applied in the biomedical field. Improving the acidic microenvironment caused by its degradation products and regulating its degradation behavior are still urgent scientific and technological problems to be solved. In this study, to regulate the degradation behaviors of PLGA and improve its bioactivity, hydroxyapatite (HA) and magnesium oxide (MgO) were incorporated into PLGA substrate in different proportions and a series of 3D-printing PLGA/HA/MgO (PHM) composite porous scaffolds were prepared. Then the physicochemical properties, degradation behaviors, in vitro and in vivo biological performance of fabricated scaffolds were systematically studied.…

Objective Alveolar bone defects can be highly variable in their morphology and, as the defect size increases, they become more challenging to treat with currently available therapeutics and biomaterials. This investigation sought to devise a protocol for fabricating customized clinical scale and patient-specific, bioceramic scaffolds for reconstruction of large alveolar bone defects. Methods Two types of calcium phosphate (CaP)-based bioceramic scaffolds (alginate/β-TCP and hydroxyapatite/α-TCP, hereafter referred to as hybrid CaP and Osteoink™, respectively) were designed, 3D printed, and their biocompatibility with alveolar bone marrow stem cells and mechanical properties were determined. Following scaffold optimization, a workflow was developed to use…

Malignant bone tumors have caused great obstacles and serious illnesses for tumor recurrence and difficulty in reconstructing and repairing large defects after tumorectomy. Additionally, long-term efficacy, satisfactory biocompatibility and excellent properties for anti-tumor agents are necessary in the biomedical field. To solve these problems, a novel idea has been proposed on building an integrative anti-tumor/bone repairing scaffold by covering photothermal therapy (PTT) composite MoS2-PLGA film on the surface of borosilicate bioactive glass (BG). In our study, the MoS2-integrated composite BG (BGM) scaffolds can rapidly and effectively elevate temperature, and they exhibited excellent photothermal stability, under 808 nm laser irradiation. Notably,…

Inspired by stimuli-tailored dynamic processes that spatiotemporally create structural and functional diversity in biology, a new hierarchical patterning strategy is proposed to induce the emergence of complex multidimensional structures via dynamic sacrificial printing of stimuli-responsive hydrogels. Using thermally responsive gelatin (Gel) and pH-responsive chitosan (Chit) as proof-of-concept materials, we demonstrate that the initially printed sacrificial material (Gel/Chit-H+ hydrogel with a single gelatin network) can be converted dynamically into non-sacrificial material (Gel/Chit-H+–Citr hydrogel with gelatin and an electrostatic citrate–chitosan dual network) under stimulus cues (citrate ions). Complex hierarchical structures and functions can be created by controlling either the printing patterns of…

3D Ti6Al4V-beta-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) hybrid scaffolds with interconnected porous network and controllable porosity and pore size were successfully produced by three-dimensional fiber deposition (3DF). The macrostructure of scaffolds was determined by the 3D design, whereas the micro- and submicron structure were derived from the Ti6Al4V powder sintering and the crystalline TCP powder, respectively. Ti6Al4V-TCP slurry was developed for 3DF by optimizing the TCP powder size, Ti6Al4V-to-TCP powder ratio and Ti6Al4V-TCP powder content. Moreover, the air pressure and fiber deposition rate were optimized. A maximum achievable ceramic content in the Ti6Al4V-TCP slurry that enables 3DF manufacturing was 10 wt%. The chemical…

Bone related diseases and disorders increasingly impact human health. Electrical stimulation (ES) has been shown to promote osteogenesis and healing of bone defects. Graphene, is an electrically conductive and biocompatible material with good mechanical properties (strength with flexibility), and therefore shows significant promise as a cell-compatible electrode for ES. Graphene-based scaffolds may therefore be used for 3D cell and tissue support, including 3D osteoinduction. We have fabricated 3D graphene electrode structures to provide ES to human adipose stem cells (ADSCs). The assemblies support ADSC growth and differentiation, with ES augmenting proliferation and osteogenesis. Our findings expand our previous work on…

The high surface area ratio and special structure of mesoporous bioactive glass (MBG) endow it with excellent physical adsorption of various drugs without destroying the chemical activity. Silicate 1393 bioactive glass (1393) is famous for its fantastic biodegradability and osteogenesis. Herein, we have built a novel vehicle-like drug delivery 3D printing scaffold with multiplexed drug delivery capacity by coating MBG on the surface of 1393 (1393@MBG). Furthermore, we have applied DEX and BMP-2 on the 1393@MBG scaffold to endow it with antibacterial and osteogenic properties. Results indicated that this 1393@MBG scaffold could effectively load and controlled release BMP-2, DNA and…

Extrusion processing of carbon tubes can be problematic due to their poor interfacial interactions with polymeric matrices. Surface chemical modification of carbon tubes can be utilized to create bonding sites to form networks with polymer chains. However, chemical reactions resulting in intermolecular primary bonding limit processability of extrudate, since they cause unstable rheological behaviour, and thus decrease the stock holding time, which is determinative in extrusion. This study presents a method for the synthesis of carbon microtubes with physically modified surface area to improve the filler and matrix interfacial interactions. The key concept is the formation of a nanogrooved topography,…

Three-dimensional printing is one of the most promising techniques for the manufacturing of scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. However, a pure scaffold is limited by its biological properties. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) has been shown to have the potential to improve the osteogenic effect. In this study, we improved the biological properties of scaffolds by coating 3D-printed polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds with freeze-dried and traditionally prepared PRP, and we evaluated these scaffolds through in vitro and in vivo experiments. In vitro, we evaluated the interaction between dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and the scaffolds by measuring cell proliferation, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity,…