Abstract
The design of bioactive scaffolds with improved mechanical and biological properties is an important topic of research. This paper investigates the use of polymer-ceramic composite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering. Different ceramic materials (hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tri-calcium phosphate (TCP)) were mixed with poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL). Scaffolds with different material compositions were produced using an extrusion-based additive manufacturing system. The produced scaffolds were physically and chemically assessed, considering mechanical, wettability, scanning electron microscopy and thermal gravimetric tests. Cell viability, attachment and proliferation tests were performed using human adipose derived stem cells (hADSCs). Results show that scaffolds containing HA present better biological properties and TCP scaffolds present improved mechanical properties. It was also possible to observe that the addition of ceramic particles had no effect on the wettability of the scaffolds.
Highlights
Bone repair and regeneration is a common and complicated clinical problem
Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) analysis shows that the melt blending method used to prepare the PCL/HA and PCL/tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) pellets is a simple and effective method, as the exact concentration of ceramic material in the scaffolds was similar to the designed parameters
The addition of ceramic material had no influence on the hydrophilic characteristics of the PCL scaffolds
Summary
Bone repair and regeneration is a common and complicated clinical problem. Bone, as a functionally smart tissue, is capable of healing and remodelling in the case of limited bone defects. Materials 2018, 11, 129 combined with biocompatible and biodegradable materials represents a viable approach for bone regeneration [6,7] These grafts, usually porous structures with interconnected porosity, provide a temporary environment that guides the colonization, attachment and proliferation of either seeded or host cells, promoting tissue regeneration. PCL scaffolds present long degradation times, high hydrophobicity and poor bioactivity (osteointegration, osteoconduction and osteoinduction) To overcome these limitations and to improve mechanical properties, PCL was combined with different inorganic materials such as hydroxyapatite (HA), tri-calcium phosphate (TCP), bioglass, and graphene [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19]. The produced scaffolds were assessed for their morphological, physical, chemical, and biological properties
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