3D Bioplotter Research Papers

Soft-ionic materials with biocompatibility and 3D printability are needed to develop next-generation devices to interface between electronic and biological signals. Herein, thermoreversible and biocompatible ionic liquid gels or iongels, which can be processed by direct ink writing are reported. The iongels are designed by taking advantage of polyvinyl alcohol/phenol interactions to gelify biocompatible cholinium carboxylate ionic liquids. The obtained iongels are stable, soft, and flexible materials (Young modulus between 14 and 70 kPa) with high ionic conductivity (1.8 × 10–2 S cm–1). Interestingly, they presented thermoreversible properties with gel–sol transitions ranging from 85 and 110 °C, which allows the iongel…

Calcium silicate (CS) composite bone tissue engineering scaffolds were three-dimensionally printed using titanium metallic powders as the second strengthening phase for overcoming the inherent brittleness and fast degradability. In order to promote the sintering process of all composite scaffolds, mesoporous structure was further introduced into sol-gel-derived CS powders obtaining mesoporous CS (MCS) with larger surface area. The influences of mesoporous structure, sintering temperature and Ti content have been investigated through comparisons of the final scaffold composition, microstructure, compressive strength and in vitro stability. Results showed that CS matrix materials reacted with Ti could form less degradable CaTiO3 and TiC ceramic…

Combining recycling of paper wastes (WPs) with extrusion‐based additive manufacturing represents a sustainable route to cellular cellulose composites tailored for lightweight construction. Particularly, shear mixing of shredded WPs with an aqueous solution of a polymer binder like polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) yields aqueous pastes suitable for 3D printing. As a shear thinning additive, both WP and microfibrillated cellulose account for enhanced shear thinning and dimensional stability. Opposite to the formation of dense WP/PVA composites by melt extrusion, 3D printing of aqueous pastes produces cellular cellulose/PVA composites exhibiting hierarchical pore architectures. In spite of low densities around 0.8 g cm−3, high Young’s…

Silicon-substituted hydroxyapatite (SiHA) macroporous scaffolds have been prepared by robocasting. In order to optimize their bone regeneration properties, we have manufactured these scaffolds presenting different microstructures: nanocrystalline and crystalline. Moreover, their surfaces have been decorated with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to evaluate the potential coupling between vascularization and bone regeneration. In vitro cell culture tests evidence that nanocrystalline SiHA hinders pre-osteblast proliferation, whereas the presence of VEGF enhances the biological functions of both endothelial cells and pre-osteoblasts. The bone regeneration capability has been evaluated using an osteoporotic sheep model. In vivo observations strongly correlate with in vitro cell culture…

Simple ternary SiO2CaOP2O5 bioglasses proved sufficient osteogenesis capacity. In this study, the bioglasses were 3D printed into porous scaffolds and SiO2/CaO molar ratio was altered (from 90/5 to 60/35) to achieve tunable glass-ceramic compositions after thermal treatment. Scaffolds possessed interconnected porous structure with controllable porosities via 3D printing technique. In addition, microstructure and properties of mechanical strength, degradation, ion dissolution and apatite formation were investigated. Characterization results showed that higher content of SiO2 produced more homogeneous crystalline particles and sintering compactness, thus led to higher strength. For scaffolds with higher CaO content, more glasses were maintained and faster degradation rate…

Bioactive glass (BG) can repair bone defects, however, it is not clear whether BG has the ability for bone augmentation without making any bone defect. Unlike the intramembranous osteogenesis in bone defect repair, the extramembranous osteogenesis occurs outside the cortical bone and the osteoprogenitor cells show the reversed migration. Herein, nanoscale bioactive glass scaffolds (BGSs) are fabricated, and their role and immunomodulation‐related mechanism in the extramembranous osteogenesis are investigated. The in vitro migration and differentiation of calvaria preosteoblasts are studied by culturing with peripheral macrophage‐conditioned medium after stimulating with BGSs. The results indicate that the proinflammatory environment significantly promotes preosteoblast…

3D printed polycaprolactone (PCL)-blended scaffolds have been designed, prepared, and evaluated in vitro in this study prior to the incorporation of a polyvinyl alcohol–polyacrylic acid (PVA–PAA) hydrogel for the delivery of in situ-formed sodium indomethacin. The prepared PCL–PVA–PAA scaffold is proposed as a potential structural support system for load-bearing tissue damage where inflammation is prevalent. Uniaxial strain testing of the PCL-blended scaffolds were undertaken to determine the scaffold’s resistance to strain in addition to its thermal, structural, and porosimetric properties. The viscoelastic properties of the incorporated PVA–PAA hydrogel has also been determined, as well as the drug release profile of…

To promote vascularization of tissue-engineered bone, IFN-γ polarizing macrophages to M1 was loaded on 5% calcium silicate/β-tricalcium phosphate (CaSiO3-β-TCP) scaffolds. IFN-γ and Si released from the scaffold were designed to polarize M1 and M2 macrophages, respectively. β-TCP, CaSiO3-β-TCP, and IFN-γ@CaSiO3-β-TCP were fabricated and biocompatibilities were evaluated. Polarizations of macrophages were detected by flow cytometry. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells with GFP were cultured and induced on Matrigel with conditioned culture medium extracted from culture of macrophages loaded on scaffolds for evaluating angiogenesis. Four weeks after the scaffolds were subcutaneously implanted into C57B1/6, vascularization was evaluated by visual observation, hematoxylin and…

β-TCP-Zirconia scaffolds with different architectures were fabricated by means of 3D-Bioplotting in order to enhance the mechanical and in-vitro ability of the scaffold to heal large size bone defects. In the present study scaffold architecture with different strand orientations (0o-90o, 0o-45o-135o-180o, 0o-108o-216o and 0o-72o-144o-36o-108o) were fabricated, characterized and evaluated for mechanical strength and cell proliferation ability. β-TCP powder (25µm) and PVA (Polyvinyl Alcohol) was acquired from Fisher Scientific, India. Zirconia (18 to 32 µm) was procured from Lobachemie, India. In brief 7.5%, PVA in distilled water was used as a binder and was mixed with 10 grams of (70/30) TCP-Zirconia…

The blood clotting protein fibrin contains cell-binding domains, providing potential advantage for the fabrication of tissue repair scaffolds and for live cell encapsulation. However, fabrication of fibrin scaffolds with encapsulated cells using three dimensional (3D) printing has proven challenging due to the mechanical difficulties of fabricating protein hydrogel scaffolds with defined microstructure. For example, extrusion based 3D printing of fibrin is generally unfeasible because of the low viscosity of precursor fibrinogen solution. Here we describe a novel technique for bioprinting of fibrin scaffolds by extruding fibrinogen solution into thrombin solution, utilizing hyaluronic acid (HA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to increase…

Bone infection is a feared complication following surgery or trauma that remains as an extremely difficult disease to deal with. So far, the outcome of therapy could be improved with the design of 3D implants, which combine the merits of osseous regeneration and local multidrug therapy so as to avoid bacterial growth, drug resistance and the feared side effects. Herein, hierarchical 3D multidrug scaffolds based on nanocomposite bioceramic and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) prepared by rapid prototyping with an external coating of gelatin-glutaraldehyde (Gel-Glu) have been fabricated. These 3D scaffolds contain three antimicrobial agents (rifampin, levofloxacin and vancomycin), which have been…

The development of a new generation of biomaterials with high osteogenic ability for fast osseointegration with host bone is being intensively investigated. In this study, we have fabricated three-dimensional (3-D) strontium-containing mesoporous bioactive glass (Sr-MBG) scaffolds by a 3-D printing technique. Sr-MBG scaffolds showed uniform interconnected macropores (∼400 μm), high porosity (∼70%) and enhanced compressive strength (8.67 ± 1.74 MPa). Using MBG scaffolds as a control, the biological properties of Sr-MBG scaffolds were evaluated by apatite-forming ability, adhesion, proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity and osteogenic gene expression of osteoblast-like cells MC3T3-E1. Furthermore, Sr-MBG scaffolds were used to repair critical-sized rat calvarial…

A polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-stabilized polypyrrole nanodispersion has been optimised for conductivity and processability by decreasing the quantity of PVA before and after synthesis. A reduction of PVA before synthesis leads to the formation of particles with a slight increase in dry particle diameter (51 ± 6 to 63 ± 3 nm), and conversely a reduced hydrodynamic diameter. Conductivity of the dried nanoparticle films was not measureable after a reduction of PVA prior to synthesis. Using filtration of particles after synthesis, PVA content was sufficiently reduced to achieve dried thin film conductivity of 2 S cm−1, while the electroactivity of the…

In this study, we fabricated strontium-containing mesoporous bioactive glass (Sr-MBG) scaffolds with controlled architecture and enhanced mechanical strength using a three-dimensional (3-D) printing technique. The study showed that Sr-MBG scaffolds had uniform interconnected macropores and high porosity, and their compressive strength was ∼170 times that of polyurethane foam templated MBG scaffolds. The physicochemical and biological properties of Sr-MBG scaffolds were evaluated by ion dissolution, apatite-forming ability and proliferation, alkaline phosphatase activity, osteogenic expression and extracelluar matrix mineralization of osteoblast-like cells MC3T3-E1. The results showed that Sr-MBG scaffolds exhibited a slower ion dissolution rate and more significant potential to stabilize the…

The aim of this study was to investigate the osteogenic effect of three different cell-seeded 3D-bioplotted scaffolds in a ovine calvarial critical-size defect model. The choice of scaffold-materials was based on their applicability for 3D-bioplotting and respective possibility to produce tailor-made scaffolds for the use in cranio-facial surgery for the replacement of complex shaped boneparts. Scaffold raw-materials are known to be osteoinductive when being cell-seeded [poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)] or having components with osteoinductive properties as tricalciumphosphate (TCP) or collagen (Col) or chitosan. The scaffold-materials PLGA, TCP/Col, and HYDR (TCP/Col/chitosan) were cell-seeded with osteoblast-like cells whether gained from bone (OLB) or from…