Construct functional PEGDA/CSMA/CuII photosensitive ink for SLA 3D printing of blood contact appliance

Abstract

Stereolithography (SLA) is an emerging technology in three-dimensional printing that has garnered significant attention in the biomedical field due to its high printing fidelity, good biocompatibility, and high spatial resolution. Polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) is commonly used as a photosensitive printing ink in SLA, and it possesses excellent biocompatibility, photosensitivity, processability, water solubility, and biomechanical tunability. Additionally, PEGDA exhibits unique anti-protein, platelet, and cell adhesion possibilities, making it a promising material for blood contact applications. However, cross-linking PEGDA using chain growth photopolymerization results in a high concentration of reactive functional groups, leading to high print volume shrinkage, decreased precision of the finished product, warping, deformation, and cracking. This study introduces a chemically modified methacryloylated chitosan (CSMA) as a cross-linking agent into the PEGDA ink. This strategy effectively reduces the volume shrinkage of the ink and imparts antimicrobial properties to the final product. The dual anticoagulation properties of PEGDA were achieved by loading divalent copper ion (CuII) into the ink, which better addresses the antimicrobial and anticoagulant needs in the physiological environment of blood. The results show that SLA printable inks based on PEGDA/CSMA/CuII have low swelling, high print fidelity, high stability, and good cell compatibility. Furthermore, by verifying the functionality of PEGDA/CSMA/CuII, the research shows that the bioprinting ink exhibits excellent antibacterial and anticoagulant properties, making it a promising material candidate for SLA 3D printing of blood purification, central venous catheter, and other semi-implanted blood materials. This study provides new ideas for developing multifunctional photosensitive inks in biomedical engineering.