scholarly journals Preliminary Evaluation of 3D Printed Chitosan/Pectin Constructs for Biomedical Applications

Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Georgia Michailidou ◽  
Zoe Terzopoulou ◽  
Argyroula Kehagia ◽  
Anna Michopoulou ◽  
Dimitrios N. Bikiaris

In the present study, chitosan (CS) and pectin (PEC) were utilized for the preparation of 3D printable inks through pneumatic extrusion for biomedical applications. CS is a polysaccharide with beneficial properties; however, its printing behavior is not satisfying, rendering the addition of a thickening agent necessary, i.e., PEC. The influence of PEC in the prepared inks was assessed through rheological measurements, altering the viscosity of the inks to be suitable for 3D printing. 3D printing conditions were optimized and the effect of different drying procedures, along with the presence or absence of a gelating agent on the CS-PEC printed scaffolds were assessed. The mean pore size along with the average filament diameter were measured through SEM micrographs. Interactions among the characteristic groups of the two polymers were evident through FTIR spectra. Swelling and hydrolysis measurements confirmed the influence of gelation and drying procedure on the subsequent behavior of the scaffolds. Ascribed to the beneficial pore size and swelling behavior, fibroblasts were able to survive upon exposure to the ungelated scaffolds.

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1655 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Melilli ◽  
Irene Carmagnola ◽  
Chiara Tonda-Turo ◽  
Fabrizio Pirri ◽  
Gianluca Ciardelli ◽  
...  

The development of new bio-based inks is a stringent request for the expansion of additive manufacturing towards the development of 3D-printed biocompatible hydrogels. Herein, methacrylated carboxymethyl cellulose (M-CMC) is investigated as a bio-based photocurable ink for digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing. CMC is chemically modified using methacrylic anhydride. Successful methacrylation is confirmed by 1H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. Aqueous formulations based on M-CMC/lithium phenyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP) photoinitiator and M-CMC/Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM)/LAP show high photoreactivity upon UV irradiation as confirmed by photorheology and FTIR. The same formulations can be easily 3D-printed through a DLP apparatus to produce 3D shaped hydrogels with excellent swelling ability and mechanical properties. Envisaging the application of the hydrogels in the biomedical field, cytotoxicity is also evaluated. The light-induced printing of cellulose-based hydrogels represents a significant step forward in the production of new DLP inks suitable for biomedical applications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyoohwan Jung ◽  
Sung Yong Cho

Abstract We evaluated feasibility of the newly-developed 3D printed training module for the navigation during retrograde intrarenal surgery. Two specialists provided orientation to all trainees. The 3D printing model consisted of eight calyces in each kidney. One navigation time started from the moment when the endoscope entered into the ureter. After navigation was completed, the navigation time was recorded. The goal was to perform ten times of navigation for each side, starting from the right or the left side at random. After the experiment, all trainees were asked to fill out a questionnaire. The average of training period of all 17 trainees was 3.05 ± 1.80 years. The average navigation time of 308 trials was 153.4 ± 92.6 sec. The maximum and minimum navigation time were 354.3 ± 177.2 sec and 80.1 ± 25.6 sec. The mean navigation time of the first and the last trials of all trainees significantly decreased from 251.4 ± 108.0 sec to 93.9 ± 33.2 sec. The average of reduction in navigation time was 201.3 ± 133.3 sec. Almost all trainees were satisfied with the training. The newly-developed 3D printing navigation training module seems to be effective.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Moriles ◽  
Amanda Ramnot ◽  
Michael Lai ◽  
Robin J. Jacobs ◽  
Yasmin Qureshi

Abstract Context With the advent of increasingly accessible three-dimensional (3D) printing, the possibility to efficiently design and generate prototype innovations is also increasing. This type of manufacturing can potentially enhance medical education by allowing design of models specific to osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM). Objectives To determine the viability of a 3D-printed mechanically moveable rib cage in enhancing the teaching of rib osteopathic principles. Methods A single-blind, qualitative study was conducted to evaluate the use of educating students with this novel 3D-printed, movable rib model vs. a traditional static rib model. A total of 237 first-year medical students participated in the study and received the same standardized lecture on the rib dysfunction. Students were also assigned at random to either a comparison group, which would utilize the 3D printed rib model, or the control group, which would utilize the traditional static model. Students would also complete an entrance and exit surveys assessing subjective scores of overall student satisfaction and objective scores for knowledge of OMM rib dysfunction and treatment. An independent samples t-test was applied to assess potential differences between select student evaluation scores (those with continuous variables) of the rib model in the comparison and experiment groups. Chi-square goodness of fit test was conducted to determine if there were any significant differences in entry and exit survey responses between the two groups. Descriptive statistics of the mean and standard deviation were also reported. Results For both comparison and control groups, the mean score on an 11-point scale for the evaluation question, “Please rank on a scale of 0–10 how helpful you thought the rib models were to your education,” was 9.08 (SD, 1.397). Independent t-test results showed that the comparison group had higher scores than the control group when queried about whether they felt the model accurately depicted the material presented (comparison group mean, 9.55 [SD, 978] vs. control group mean, 9.06 [SD, 1.33; t(235) = 3.253; p=0.01). Chi-square test of goodness-of-fit showed that the differences between the number of correct answers chosen by participants for Item 3 (a case-based question asking students which rib they would treat for a patient presenting to an OMT clinic) was statistically significantly higher for the comparison group (51.9% correct in comparison group vs. 48.1% in control group), even though both groups scored similarly on this item during the entry survey. Conclusions The results of this study suggest that utilizing 3D printing to demonstrate somatic dysfunctions of the rib cage may improve understanding and student satisfaction for diagnosis and treatment.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Silva ◽  
Isabel S. Pinho ◽  
José A. Covas ◽  
Natália M. Alves ◽  
Maria C. Paiva

AbstractAdditive manufacturing techniques established a new paradigm in the manufacture of composite materials providing a simple solution to build complex, custom designed shapes. In the biomedical field, 3D printing enabled the production of scaffolds with patient-specific requirements, controlling product architecture and microstructure, and have been proposed to regenerate a variety of tissues such as bone, cartilage, or the nervous system. Polymers reinforced with graphene or graphene derivatives have demonstrated potential interest for applications that require electrical and mechanical properties as well as enhanced cell response, presenting increasing interest for applications in the biomedical field. The present review focuses on graphene-based polymer nanocomposites developed for additive manufacturing fabrication, provides an overview of the manufacturing techniques available to reach the different biomedical applications, and summarizes relevant results obtained with 3D printed graphene/polymer scaffolds and biosensors.


Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (7) ◽  
pp. 1706 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tao Han ◽  
Sudip Kundu ◽  
Anindya Nag ◽  
Yongzhao Xu

This paper showcases a substantial review on some of the significant work done on 3D printing of sensors for biomedical applications. The importance of 3D printing techniques has bloomed in the sensing world due to their essential advantages of quick fabrication, easy accessibility, processing of varied materials and sustainability. Along with the introduction of the necessity and influence of 3D printing techniques for the fabrication of sensors for different healthcare applications, the paper explains the individual methodologies used to develop sensing prototypes. Six different 3D printing techniques have been explained in the manuscript, followed by drawing a comparison between them in terms of their advantages, disadvantages, materials being processed, resolution, repeatability, accuracy and applications. Finally, a conclusion of the paper is provided with some of the challenges of the current 3D printing techniques about the developed sensing prototypes, their corresponding remedial solutions and a market survey determining the expenditure on 3D printing for biomedical sensing prototypes.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 1363-1370
Author(s):  
Jaeyoung Kwon ◽  
Guk Bae Kim ◽  
Sunah Kang ◽  
Younghwa Byeon ◽  
Ho-Seok Sa ◽  
...  

Purpose Extrinsic trauma to the orbit may cause a blowout or orbital fracture, which often requires surgery for reconstruction of the orbit and repositioning of the eyeball with an implant. Post-operative complications, however, are high with the most frequent cause of complications being a mismatch of the position and shape of the implant and fracture. These mismatches may be reduced by computed tomography (CT) based modeling and three-dimensional (3D) printed guide. Therefore, the aim of this study is to propose and evaluate a patient-specific guide to shape an orbital implant using 3D printing. Design/methodology/approach Using CT images of a patient, an orbital fracture can be modeled to design an implant guide for positioning and shaping of the surface and boundaries of the implant. The guide was manufactured using UV curable plastic at 0.032 mm resolution by a 3D printer. The accuracy of this method was evaluated by micro-CT scanning of the surgical guides and shaping implants. Findings The length and depth of the 3D model, press-compressed and decompressed implants were compared. The mean differences in length were 0.67 ± 0.38 mm, 0.63 ± 0.28 mm and 0.10 ± 0.10 mm, and the mean differences in depth were 0.64 ± 0.37 mm, 1.22 ± 0.56 mm and 0.57 ± 0.23 mm, respectively. Statistical evaluation was performed with a Bland-Altman plot. Originality/value This study suggests a patient-specific guide to shape an orbital implant using 3D printing and evaluate the guiding accuracy of the implant versus the planned model.


Author(s):  
Yi Zhang

3D printing is a technology well-suited for biomedical applications due to its ability to create highly complex and arbitrary structures from personalized designs with fast turnaround. However, due to limited selection of 3D-printable materials, the biofunctionality of many 3D-printed components has not been paid enough attention. In this perspective, we point out that post-3D printing modification is the solution that could close the gap between 3D printing technology and requirements of biomedical applications. We identify architectural reconfiguration and surface functionalization as the two main post-3D printing modification processes and discuss potential techniques for post-3D printing modification to achieve desired biofunctionality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Prabhakar ◽  
Raj Kumar Sen ◽  
Neeraj Dwivedi ◽  
Raju Khan ◽  
Pratima R. Solanki ◽  
...  

3D printing is a smart additive manufacturing technique that allows the engineering of biomedical devices that are usually difficult to design using conventional methodologies such as machining or molding. Nowadays, 3D-printed microfluidics has gained enormous attention due to their various advantages including fast production, cost-effectiveness, and accurate designing of a range of products even geometrically complex devices. In this review, we focused on the recent significant findings in the field of 3D-printed microfluidic devices for biomedical applications. 3D printers are used as fabrication tools for a broad variety of systems for a range of applications like diagnostic microfluidic chips to detect different analytes, for example, glucose, lactate, and glutamate and the biomarkers related to different clinically relevant diseases, for example, malaria, prostate cancer, and breast cancer. 3D printers can print various materials (inorganic and polymers) with varying density, strength, and chemical properties that provide users with a broad variety of strategic options. In this article, we have discussed potential 3D printing techniques for the fabrication of microfluidic devices that are suitable for biomedical applications. Emerging diagnostic technologies using 3D printing as a method for integrating living cells or biomaterials into 3D printing are also reviewed.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 474
Author(s):  
Sandya Shiranthi Athukorala ◽  
Tuan Sang Tran ◽  
Rajkamal Balu ◽  
Vi Khanh Truong ◽  
James Chapman ◽  
...  

Electrically conductive hydrogels (ECHs), an emerging class of biomaterials, have garnered tremendous attention due to their potential for a wide variety of biomedical applications, from tissue-engineered scaffolds to smart bioelectronics. Along with the development of new hydrogel systems, 3D printing of such ECHs is one of the most advanced approaches towards rapid fabrication of future biomedical implants and devices with versatile designs and tuneable functionalities. In this review, an overview of the state-of-the-art 3D printed ECHs comprising conductive polymers (polythiophene, polyaniline and polypyrrole) and/or conductive fillers (graphene, MXenes and liquid metals) is provided, with an insight into mechanisms of electrical conductivity and design considerations for tuneable physiochemical properties and biocompatibility. Recent advances in the formulation of 3D printable bioinks and their practical applications are discussed; current challenges and limitations of 3D printing of ECHs are identified; new 3D printing-based hybrid methods for selective deposition and fabrication of controlled nanostructures are highlighted; and finally, future directions are proposed.


Author(s):  
Nikolaos A Fountas ◽  
Konstantinos Kitsakis ◽  
Kyriaki-Evangelia Aslani ◽  
John D Kechagias ◽  
Nikolaos M Vaxevanidis

This work investigates the effect of 3D-printing parameters on surface roughness in polylactic acid printed material by adopting Taguchi's design of experiments approach. The control parameters under study were: number of shells, printing temperature, infill rate, and printing pattern. As the response, mean surface roughness (Ra) was selected. The control parameters were assigned to an L9 orthogonal array to organize the experiments and obtain the mean surface roughness results. It is concluded that printing temperature is the dominant parameter that affects surface roughness when it comes to 3D printing of polylactic acid material followed by printing pattern, infill rate, and the number of shells.


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