Abstract
Implants of bioresorbable materials combined with osteoconductive calcium phosphate ceramics show promising results to replace and repair damaged bone tissue. Here we present additive manufacturing of patient-specific porous scaffolds of poly(trimethylene carbonate) (PTMC) including high amounts of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP). Tensile testing of composite networks showed that addition of β-tricalcium phosphate reinforces the composites significantly. Three-dimensional structures containing up to 60 wt % β-TCP could be built by stereolithography. By lowering the content to 51 wt %, manufacturing of a large-sized patient-specific prototype was possible at high resolution. Closer examination revealed that the created scaffolds contained more β-TCP on the surface of the builds. Stereolithography therefore provides a manufacturing technique where the bioactive agent is directly available for creating an enhanced microenvironment for cell growth. The biocompatibility and bioresorption of PTMC coupled with the osteoconductivity of β-TCP are an important candidate to consider in additive manufacturing of bone regeneration implants.
Highlights
There is a major clinical need to replace and regenerate bone tissue due to trauma or disease
The goal of the presented research was to utilize additive manufacturing to produce polymer composite scaffolds containing an optimal amount of osteoconductive β-tricalcium phosphate for patients-specific bone grafting implants
Composite networks were created from poly(trimethylene carbonate) and β-tricalcium phosphate
Summary
There is a major clinical need to replace and regenerate bone tissue due to trauma or disease. In craniomaxillofacial surgery there is a demand for patient specific implants that replace the bone until new tissue is generated. Standard procedures in bone regeneration including autografts and allografts encounter problems regarding e.g. donor-site morbidity and long rehabilitation times 1. Synthetic bone substitutes have the potential of solving these problems. An implant can be engineered to replace the damaged tissue as long as needed. The implant slowly degrades while being replaced by bone tissue. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers an engineering route to achieve individualized implants based on imaging data. In AM a computer-controlled device unifies material, thereby forming a threedimensional object defined by a computer-aided design (CAD) model
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