A 3D bioprinted in situ conjugated‐co‐fabricated scaffold for potential bone tissue engineering applications

Abstract

There is a demand for progressive approaches in bone tissue engineering to repair and regenerate bone defects resulting from trauma or disease. This investigation sought to engineer a single-step in situ conjugated polymeric scaffold employing 3D printing technology as an innovative fabricating tool. A polymeric scaffold was engineered in situ employing sodium alginate as a bio-ink which interacted with a poly(ethyleneimine) solution on bioprinting to form a polyelectrolyte complex through ionic bond formation. Silica gel was included in the bio-ink as temporal inorganic support component and for ultimate enhancement of osteoinduction. Characterization of the biorelevant properties of the scaffold was undertaken via Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Thermogravimentric Analysis, X-Ray diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and biomechanical testing. The scaffold maintained its 3D architecture for the duration of the 28-day degradation investigation, while potentially permitting the infiltration of nutrients, growth factor, and cells evident by the increased solvent penetration into the scaffold observed via Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies. The scaffold porosity and pore size were found to be 60% and 360 µm, respectively. Biomechanical evaluation revealed a Young's modulus of 18.37 MPa highlighting that the scaffold in its current form possesses the mechanical capabilities for certain bone tissue engineering applications. This investigation provided highlighted the applicability of alginate-poly(ethyeneimine)/silica for 3D bioprinting as a scaffold which could possess potential as a bone tissue engineering scaffold. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 1311-1321, 2018.

Shape Fidelity of 3D-Bioprinted Biodegradable Patches

“…The 4A1CNF reaches a maximum of 50% after the full 30 days. A similar 50% mass loss over 30 days is reported for the degradation of an alginatebased material [58], with a similar finding reporting that incorporation of CNF in alginate increases resistance against mechanical collapse and degradation. The CNF-alginate hydrogels have better mechanical stability characteristics compared with CNC-alginate hydrogel [70].…”

“…3D printed samples (l × w × h = 10 × 15 × 2 mm) were placed in an environment meant to mimic a living body. Media containing Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM) with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS), kept at 37 °C and 5% CO2 in an incubator, was replaced every 2-3 days [58]. Periodically, samples were removed from the incubator, washed with distilled water, freeze-dried for three hours, weighted, and then imaged.…”

“…Samples were sterilized with UV-light for 20 min before being replaced in the incubator. Normalized weight loss of the samples was calculated with the following equation [58]:…”

Advances in three‐dimensional bioprinting of bone: Progress and challenges

“…(Jariwala, Lewis, Bushman, Adair, & Donahue, ; Müller, Becher, Schnabelrauch, & Zenobi‐Wong, ; Yang et al, ) Inclusion of bioactive composites/ceramic particles in bioinks as osteopromotive elements (silica, borate, calcium, and phosphate) is another way to promote osteogenesis. These particles (from nanosized to microsized range) act either as nucleation centres for facilitating HA deposition on constructs or by releasing ions that induced stem cell differentiation, a process commonly termed as osteoinduction (Deng et al, ; Gao et al, ; Kim, Yun, & Kim, ; Sithole et al, ; Wenz, Borchers, Tovar, & Kluger, ; Zhai et al, ). Graphene is another material gaining momentum in bone regenerative studies (Hermenean et al, ; Lee et al, ; Lu et al, ; Shadjou & Hasanzadeh, ; Shin et al, ); however, its applicability to 3D bioprinted constructs is not fully explored yet (Wang et al, ; Sayyar, Officer, & Wallace, ; Zhou et al, ).…”

A Review of Three-dimensional Printing for Biomedical and Tissue Engineering Applications

“…Dr. Hideo, a Japanese lawyer was the first person to file a patent for rapid prototyping technology. Charles (chuck) Hull was the first person to invent the stereolithography machine (3D printer), which was the first ever device of its kind to print a real physical part from a digital (computer) generated file [1,2]. Three-dimensional printing technology is one of the trending additive manufacturing methods.…”