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3D Bioplotter Research Papers
Rapid assessment of the osteogenic capacity of hydroxyapatite/aragonite using a murine tibial periosteal ossification model
Biomaterials are widely used as orthopaedic implants and bone graft substitutes. We aimed to develop a rapid osteogenic assessment method using a murine tibial periosteal ossification model to evaluate the bone formation/remodelling potential of a biomaterial within 2–4 weeks. A novel hydroxyapatite/aragonite (HAA) biomaterial was implanted into C57BL/6 mice juxtaskeletally between the tibia and tibialis anterior muscle. Rapid intramembranous bone formation was observed at 14 days, with 4- to 8-fold increases in bone thickness and callus volume in comparison with sham-operated animals (p < 0.0001), followed by bone remodelling and a new layer of cortical bone formation by 28 days after implantation.…
Understanding the Interfacial Adhesion between Natural Silk and Polycaprolactone for Fabrication of Continuous Silk Biocomposites
The poor interfacial adhesion between silk fiber and polyester species remains a critical problem for the optimal mechanical performance of silk-reinforced polyester composites. Here, we investigated in quantitative terms the interfacial properties between natural silk fibers and polycaprolactone (PCL) at nano-, micro-, and macroscales and fabricated continuous silk-PCL composite filaments by melt extrusion and drawing processing of PCL melt at 100, 120, and 140 °C. Bombyx mori (Bm) silk, Antheraea pernyi (Ap) silk, and polyamide6 (PA6) fiber were compared to the composite with PCL. The Ap silk exhibited the highest surface energy, the best wettability, and the largest interfacial shear…
Three-dimensional biofabrication of an aragonite-enriched self-hardening bone graft substitute and assessment of its osteogenicity in vitro and in vivo
A self-hardening three-dimensional (3D)-porous composite bone graft consisting of 65 wt% hydroxyapatite (HA) and 35 wt% aragonite was fabricated using a 3D-Bioplotter®. New tetracalcium phosphate and dicalcium phosphate anhydrous/aragonite/gelatine paste formulae were developed to overcome the phase separation of the liquid and solid components. The mechanical properties, porosity, height and width stability of the end products were optimised through a systematic analysis of the fabrication processing parameters including printing pressure, printing speed and distance between strands. The resulting 3D-printed bone graft was confirmed to be a mixture of HA and aragonite by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy…