Mass-producible near-body temperature-triggered 4D printed shape memory biocomposites and their application in biomimetic intestinal stents

Abstract

Despite the burgeoning interest in manufacturing highly complex and dynamically reconfigurable implants using the 4D printing technique, one of the most critical challenges is to develop near-body temperature (NBT)-triggered 4D printing materials in a facile and scale-up manner. The currently reported 4D printed biomaterials for implants have inappropriate transition temperatures or are limited to demonstration production of small amounts of materials in the laboratory. Here, 4D printed shape memory biocomposites with controllable transition temperature were developed through facile manufacturing technology, and the shape memory process of triggering printed constructs under NBT was realized. Customized, reconfigurable, biodegradable, and biocompatible 4D printed biomimetic intestinal stents were developed using NBT-triggered biocomposites, filling the blank of 4D printed intestinal stents. The 4D printed biomimetic intestinal stents were designed based on wavy biomimetic networks that can mimic the nonlinear stress-strain response of biological tissues, demonstrating high flexibility and facilitating reduced irritation of the intestinal wall. More importantly, the biodegradability of the 4D printed biomimetic intestinal stent can avoid the secondary endoscope removal required by the metal intestinal stent. This work not only offers an efficient and facile methodology to fabricate NBT-triggered 4D printing shape memory biocomposites but also demonstrates the attractive application potential of 4D printed intestinal stents in next-generation intelligent implants.