We present the development of a novel hierarchical scaffold obtained by additive manufacturing. Structural hierarchy is obtained by changing pore size within the pore network characterizing the fabricated scaffolds and proves to be a functional element in the scaffold to influence adult stem cell differentiation in the chondrogenic lineage. Specifically, in regions of the scaffolds presenting smaller pores an increasing differentiation of stem cells toward the chondrogenic differentiation is displayed. Taking inspiration from the zonal organization of articular cartilage tissue, pore size gradients could, therefore, be considered as a new and important element in designing 3D scaffolds for regenerative medicine applications, in particular for all those tissues where gradient physical properties are present.

Tailoring the morphology of macroporous structures remains one of the biggest challenges in material synthesis. Herein, we present an innovative approach for the fabrication of custom macroporous materials in which pore size varies throughout the structure by up to an order of magnitude. We employed a valve‐based flow‐focusing junction (vFF) in which the size of the orifice can be adjusted in real‐time (within tens of milliseconds) to generate foams with on‐line controlled bubble size. We used the junction to fabricate layered and smoothly graded porous structures with pore size varying in the range of 80–800 μm. Additionally, we mounted the vFF on top of an extrusion printer and 3D‐printed constructs characterized by a predefined 3D geometry and a controlled, spatially varying internal porous architecture, such as a model of a bone. The presented technology opens new possibilities in macroporous material synthesis with potential applications ranging from tissue engineering to aerospace industry and construction.

Nowadays, post-surgical or post-accidental bone loss can be substituted by custom-made scaffolds fabricated by additive manufacturing (AM) methods from metallic powders. However, the partially melted powder particles must be removed in a post-process chemical treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of the chemical polishing with various acid baths on novel scaffolds’ morphology, porosity and mechanical properties. In the first stage, Magics software (Materialise NV, Leuven, Belgium) was used to design a porous scaffolds with pore size equal to (A) 200 µm, (B) 500 µm and (C) 200 + 500 µm, and diamond cell structure. The scaffolds were fabricated from commercially pure titanium powder (CP Ti) using a SLM50 3D printing machine (Realizer GmbH, Borchen, Germany). The selective laser melting (SLM) process was optimized and the laser beam energy density in range of 91–151 J/mm3 was applied to receive 3D structures with fully dense struts. To remove not fully melted titanium particles the scaffolds were chemically polished using various HF and HF-HNO3 acid solutions. Based on scaffolds mass loss and scanning electron (SEM) observations, baths which provided most uniform surface cleaning were proposed for each porosity. The pore and strut size after chemical treatments was calculated based on the micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) and SEM images. The mechanical tests showed that the treated scaffolds had Young’s modulus close to that of compact bone. Additionally, the effect of pore size of chemically polished scaffolds on cell retention, proliferation and differentiation was studied using human mesenchymal stem cells. Small pores yielded higher cell retention within the scaffolds, which then affected their growth. This shows that in vitro cell performance can be controlled to certain extent by varying pore sizes.

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Supportinginformation and the ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article can be found under: https://doi.

Background: The one of the most recent imaging technology is X-ray microtomography which allows non-invasive three (Folia Morphol 2017; 76, 2: 143-148)