Multi-layer Scaffolds of Poly(caprolactone), Poly(glycerol sebacate) and Bioactive Glasses Manufactured by Combined 3D Printing and Electrospinning

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been combined with electrospinning to manufacture multi-layered polymer/glass scaffolds that possess multi-scale porosity, are mechanically robust, release bioactive compounds, degrade at a controlled rate and are biocompatible. Fibrous mats of poly (caprolactone) (PCL) and poly (glycerol sebacate) (PGS) have been directly electrospun on one side of 3D-printed grids of PCL-PGS blends containing bioactive glasses (BGs). The excellent adhesion between layers has resulted in composite scaffolds with a Young’s modulus of 240–310 MPa, higher than that of 3D-printed grids (125–280 MPa, without the electrospun layer). The scaffolds degraded in vitro by releasing PGS and BGs, reaching a weight loss of ~14% after 56 days of incubation. Although the hydrolysis of PGS resulted in the acidification of the buffer medium (to a pH of 5.3–5.4), the release of alkaline ions from the BGs balanced that out and brought the pH back to 6.0. Cytotoxicity tests performed on fibroblasts showed that the PCL-PGS-BGs constructs were biocompatible, with cell viability of above 125% at day 2. This study demonstrates the fabrication of systems with engineered properties by the synergy of diverse technologies and materials (organic and inorganic) for potential applications in tendon and ligament tissue engineering.

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Three-dimensionally printed polycaprolactone/multicomponent bioactive glass scaffolds for potential application in bone tissue engineering

Biomedical glasses ◽

10.1515/bglass-2020-0006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 57-69

Author(s):

Amirhosein Fathi ◽

Farzad Kermani ◽

Aliasghar Behnamghader ◽

Sara Banijamali ◽

Masoud Mozafari ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tissue Engineering ◽

3D Printing ◽

Bone Tissue Engineering ◽

Bone Tissue ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Layer By Layer ◽

Composite Scaffolds ◽

3D Printed ◽

Co Doped

AbstractOver the last years, three-dimensional (3D) printing has been successfully applied to produce suitable substitutes for treating bone defects. In this work, 3D printed composite scaffolds of polycaprolactone (PCL) and strontium (Sr)- and cobalt (Co)-doped multi-component melt-derived bioactive glasses (BGs) were prepared for bone tissue engineering strategies. For this purpose, 30% of as-prepared BG particles (size <38 μm) were incorporated into PCL, and then the obtained composite mix was introduced into a 3D printing machine to fabricate layer-by-layer porous structures with the size of 12 × 12 × 2 mm3.The scaffolds were fully characterized through a series of physico-chemical and biological assays. Adding the BGs to PCL led to an improvement in the compressive strength of the fabricated scaffolds and increased their hydrophilicity. Furthermore, the PCL/BG scaffolds showed apatite-forming ability (i.e., bioactivity behavior) after being immersed in simulated body fluid (SBF). The in vitro cellular examinations revealed the cytocompatibility of the scaffolds and confirmed them as suitable substrates for the adhesion and proliferation of MG-63 osteosarcoma cells. In conclusion, 3D printed composite scaffolds made of PCL and Sr- and Co-doped BGs might be potentially-beneficial bone replacements, and the achieved results motivate further research on these materials.

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Evaluation of the 3D Printing Accuracy of a Dental Model According to Its Internal Structure and Cross-Arch Plate Design: An In Vitro Study

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma13235433 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (23) ◽

pp. 5433

Author(s):

Seung-Ho Shin ◽

Jung-Hwa Lim ◽

You-Jung Kang ◽

Jee-Hwan Kim ◽

June-Sung Shim ◽

...

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Internal Structure ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

In Vitro Study ◽

Thick Shell ◽

Plate Design ◽

Dental Model ◽

3D Printed ◽

Modeling Data

The amount of photopolymer material consumed during the three-dimensional (3D) printing of a dental model varies with the volume and internal structure of the modeling data. This study analyzed how the internal structure and the presence of a cross-arch plate influence the accuracy of a 3D printed dental model. The model was designed with a U-shaped arch and the palate removed (Group U) or a cross-arch plate attached to the palate area (Group P), and the internal structure was divided into five types. The trueness and precision were analyzed for accuracy comparisons of the 3D printed models. Two-way ANOVA of the trueness revealed that the accuracy was 135.2 ± 26.3 µm (mean ± SD) in Group U and 85.6 ± 13.1 µm in Group P. Regarding the internal structure, the accuracy was 143.1 ± 46.8 µm in the 1.5 mm-thick shell group, which improved to 111.1 ± 31.9 µm and 106.7 ± 26.3 µm in the roughly filled and fully filled models, respectively. The precision was 70.3 ± 19.1 µm in Group U and 65.0 ± 8.8 µm in Group P. The results of this study suggest that a cross-arch plate is necessary for the accurate production of a model using 3D printing regardless of its internal structure. In Group U, the error during the printing process was higher for the hollowed models.

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3D-Printed Biopolymers for Tissue Engineering Application

International Journal of Polymer Science ◽

10.1155/2014/829145 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 50

Author(s):

Xiaoming Li ◽

Rongrong Cui ◽

Lianwen Sun ◽

Katerina E. Aifantis ◽

Yubo Fan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Tissue Engineering ◽

3D Printing ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Engineering Application ◽

Tissue Engineering Application ◽

Printing Technology ◽

3D Printing Technology ◽

Potential Applications ◽

3D Printed ◽

Dimensional Object

3D printing technology has recently gained substantial interest for potential applications in tissue engineering due to the ability of making a three-dimensional object of virtually any shape from a digital model. 3D-printed biopolymers, which combine the 3D printing technology and biopolymers, have shown great potential in tissue engineering applications and are receiving significant attention, which has resulted in the development of numerous research programs regarding the material systems which are available for 3D printing. This review focuses on recent advances in the development of biopolymer materials, including natural biopolymer-based materials and synthetic biopolymer-based materials prepared using 3D printing technology, and some future challenges and applications of this technology are discussed.

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Living the heart in three dimensions: applications of 3D printing in CHD

Cardiology in the Young ◽

10.1017/s1047951119000398 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (06) ◽

pp. 733-743 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mari Nieves Velasco Forte ◽

Tarique Hussain ◽

Arno Roest ◽

Gorka Gomez ◽

Monique Jongbloed ◽

...

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Heart Surgery ◽

Wide Spectrum ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Structural Heart Disease ◽

Medical Personnel ◽

Three Dimensions ◽

Patient Specific ◽

3D Printed

AbstractAdvances in biomedical engineering have led to three-dimensional (3D)-printed models being used for a broad range of different applications. Teaching medical personnel, communicating with patients and relatives, planning complex heart surgery, or designing new techniques for repair of CHD via cardiac catheterisation are now options available using patient-specific 3D-printed models. The management of CHD can be challenging owing to the wide spectrum of morphological conditions and the differences between patients. Direct visualisation and manipulation of the patients’ individual anatomy has opened new horizons in personalised treatment, providing the possibility of performing the whole procedure in vitro beforehand, thus anticipating complications and possible outcomes. In this review, we discuss the workflow to implement 3D printing in clinical practice, the imaging modalities used for anatomical segmentation, the applications of this emerging technique in patients with structural heart disease, and its limitations and future directions.

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3D Printed In Vitro Dentin Model to Investigate Occlusive Agents against Tooth Sensitivity

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14237255 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (23) ◽

pp. 7255

Author(s):

Shiva Naseri ◽

Megan E. Cooke ◽

Derek H. Rosenzweig ◽

Maryam Tabrizian

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Type I Collagen ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Raw Material ◽

Type I ◽

Dentinal Tubule ◽

Human Teeth ◽

Tooth Sensitivity ◽

3D Printed

Tooth sensitivity is a painful and very common problem. Often stimulated by consuming hot, cold, sweet, or acidic foods, it is associated with exposed dentin microtubules that are open to dental pulp. One common treatment for tooth hypersensitivity is the application of occlusive particles to block dentin microtubules. The primary methodology currently used to test the penetration and occlusion of particles into dentin pores relies upon dentin discs cut from extracted bovine/human teeth. However, this method is limited due to low accessibility to the raw material. Thus, there is a need for an in vitro dentin model to characterize the effectiveness of occlusive agents. Three-dimensional printing technologies have emerged that make the printing of dentin-like structures possible. This study sought to develop and print a biomaterial ink that mimicked the natural composition and structure of dentin tubules. A formulation of type I collagen (Col), nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite (HAp), and alginate (Alg) was found to be suitable for the 3D printing of scaffolds. The performance of the 3D printed dentin model was compared to the natural dentin disk by image analysis via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), both pre- and post-treatment with occlusive microparticles, to evaluate the degree of dentinal tubule occlusion. The cytocompatibility of printed scaffolds was also confirmed in vitro. This is a promising biomaterial system for the 3D printing of dentin mimics.

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A three-dimensional (3D) printing approach to fabricate an isolation chip for high throughput in situ cultivation of environmental microbes

Lab on a Chip ◽

10.1039/d1lc00723h ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Calvin Bok Sun Goh ◽

Clariss Hui Peng Goh ◽

Li Wen Wong ◽

Wai Teng Cheng ◽

Catherine Mary Yule ◽

...

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

High Throughput ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Petri Dish ◽

Microbial Populations ◽

Cultivation Method ◽

3D Printed ◽

Environmental Microbes

The 3D-printed iChip version made from thermoplastics or photopolymers can isolate microbial populations of a peat swamp in situ with a population profile different from that isolated via the standard in vitro Petri dish cultivation method.

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Extrusion-Based 3D Printing for Highly Porous Alginate Materials Production

Gels ◽

10.3390/gels7030092 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (3) ◽

pp. 92

Author(s):

Natalia Menshutina ◽

Andrey Abramov ◽

Pavel Tsygankov ◽

Daria Lovskaya

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Sodium Alginate ◽

Complex Geometry ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Supercritical Drying ◽

High Specific Surface Area ◽

Wide Range ◽

Potential Applications ◽

3D Printed ◽

Highly Porous

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a promising technology for solving a wide range of problems: regenerative medicine, tissue engineering, chemistry, etc. One of the potential applications of additive technologies is the production of highly porous structures with complex geometries, while printing is carried out using gel-like materials. However, the implementation of precise gel printing is a difficult task due to the high requirements for “ink”. In this paper, we propose the use of gel-like materials based on sodium alginate as “ink” for the implementation of the developed technology of extrusion-based 3D printing. Rheological studies were carried out for the developed alginate ink compositions. The optimal rheological properties are gel-like materials based on 2 wt% sodium alginate and 0.2 wt% calcium chloride. The 3D-printed structures with complex geometry were successfully dried using supercritical drying. The resulting aerogels have a high specific surface area (from 350 to 422 m2/g) and a high pore volume (from 3 to 3.78 cm3/g).

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3D-printed Bioreactors for In Vitro Modeling and Analysis

International Journal of Bioprinting ◽

10.18063/ijb.v6i4.267 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Balasankar Meera Priyadarshini ◽

Vishwesh Dikshit ◽

Yi Zhang

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Pathogen Detection ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

3D Cell Culture ◽

Traditional Methods ◽

Modeling And Analysis ◽

Biological Compatibility ◽

3D Printed ◽

Functional Components

In recent years, three-dimensional (3D) printing has markedly enhanced the functionality of bioreactors by offering the capability of manufacturing intricate architectures, which changes the way of conducting in vitro biomodeling and bioanalysis. As 3D-printing technologies become increasingly mature, the architecture of 3D-printed bioreactors can be tailored to specific applications using different printing approaches to create an optimal environment for bioreactions. Multiple functional components have been combined into a single bioreactor fabricated by 3D-printing, and this fully functional integrated bioreactor outperforms traditional methods. Notably, several 3D-printed bioreactors systems have demonstrated improved performance in tissue engineering and drug screening due to their 3D cell culture microenvironment with precise spatial control and biological compatibility. Moreover, many microbial bioreactors have also been proposed to address the problems concerning pathogen detection, biofouling, and diagnosis of infectious diseases. This review offers a reasonably comprehensive review of 3D-printed bioreactors for in vitro biological applications. We compare the functions of bioreactors fabricated by various 3D-printing modalities and highlight the benefit of 3D-printed bioreactors compared to traditional methods.

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3D Printing and Bioprinting to Model Bone Cancer: The Role of Materials and Nanoscale Cues in Directing Cell Behavior

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers13164065 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (16) ◽

pp. 4065

Author(s):

Tiziana Fischetti ◽

Gemma Di Pompo ◽

Nicola Baldini ◽

Sofia Avnet ◽

Gabriela Graziani

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Bone Cancer ◽

3D Models ◽

Potential Development ◽

3D Printed ◽

Ceramic Fillers ◽

Biological Mechanics

Bone cancer, both primary and metastatic, is characterized by a low survival rate. Currently, available models lack in mimicking the complexity of bone, of cancer, and of their microenvironment, leading to poor predictivity. Three-dimensional technologies can help address this need, by developing predictive models that can recapitulate the conditions for cancer development and progression. Among the existing tools to obtain suitable 3D models of bone cancer, 3D printing and bioprinting appear very promising, as they enable combining cells, biomolecules, and biomaterials into organized and complex structures that can reproduce the main characteristic of bone. The challenge is to recapitulate a bone-like microenvironment for analysis of stromal–cancer cell interactions and biological mechanics leading to tumor progression. In this review, existing approaches to obtain in vitro 3D-printed and -bioprinted bone models are discussed, with a focus on the role of biomaterials selection in determining the behavior of the models and its degree of customization. To obtain a reliable 3D bone model, the evaluation of different polymeric matrices and the inclusion of ceramic fillers is of paramount importance, as they help reproduce the behavior of both normal and cancer cells in the bone microenvironment. Open challenges and future perspectives are discussed to solve existing shortcomings and to pave the way for potential development strategies.

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Interfacial Transcrystallization and Mechanical Performance of 3D-Printed Fully Recyclable Continuous Fiber Self-Reinforced Composites

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym13183176 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (18) ◽

pp. 3176

Author(s):

Manyu Zhang ◽

Xiaoyong Tian ◽

Dichen Li

Keyword(s):

3D Printing ◽

Mechanical Performance ◽

Three Dimensional ◽

Thermoplastic Composites ◽

Reinforced Composites ◽

Continuous Fiber ◽

The Matrix ◽

Potential Applications ◽

3D Printed ◽

Qualitative Relationship

To fully exploit the preponderance of three-dimensional (3D)-printed, continuous, fiber-reinforced, thermoplastic composites (CFRTPCs) and self-reinforced composites (which exhibit excellent interfacial affinity and are fully recyclable), an approach in which continuous fiber self-reinforced composites (CFSRCs) can be fabricated by 3D printing is proposed. The influence of 3D-printing temperature on the mechanical performance of 3D-printed CFSRCs based on homogeneous, continuous, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fibers and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) filament, utilized as a reinforcing phase and matrix, respectively, was studied. Experimental results showed a qualitative relationship between the printing temperature and the mechanical properties. The ultimate tensile strength, as well as Young’s modulus, were 300.2 MPa and 8.2 GPa, respectively. Furthermore, transcrystallization that occurred in the process of 3D printing resulted in an interface between fibers and the matrix. Finally, the recyclability of 3D-printed CFSRCs has also been demonstrated in this research for potential applications of green composites.

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