3D Bioplotter Research Papers

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…

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,…

Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology has been applied to fabricate bone tissue engineering scaffolds for a wide range of materials with precisely control over scaffold structures. Coral is a potential bone repair and bone replacement material. Due to the natural source limitation of coral, we developed a fabrication protocol for 3D printing of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) nanoparticles for coral replacement in the application of bone tissue engineering. Up to 80% of CaCO3 nanoparticles can be printed with high resolution using poly-l-lactide as a blender. The scaffolds were subjected to a controlled hydrothermal process for incomplete conversion of carbonate to phosphate to…

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…

Three dimensional (3D) printing has been used to fabricate bioceramic scaffolds for treating the tumor-related defects in recent years, but the fabrication process and the introduction of anti-tumor agents are still challenging. In this study, porous free carbon-embedding larnite (larnite/C) scaffolds have been successfully fabricated by 3D printing of the silicone resin loaded with CaCO3 filler and high temperature treatment under an inert atmosphere. The fabricated larnite/C scaffolds had uniform interconnected macropores (ca. 400 μm), and exhibited excellent photothermal effect, which was able to kill human osteosarcoma cells (MNNG/HOS) and inhibit the tumor growth in nude mice. Moreover, the larnite/C scaffolds…