Cryogel scaffolds from patient-specific 3D-printed molds for personalized tissue-engineered bone regeneration in pediatric cleft-craniofacial defects

Abstract

Bone defects are extremely common in children with cleft-craniofacial conditions, especially those with alveolar cleft defects and cranial defects. This study used patient-specific 3D-printed molds derived from computed tomography and cryogel scaffold fabrication as a proof of concept for the creation of site-specific implants for bone reconstruction. Cryogel scaffolds are unique tissue-engineered constructs formed at sub-zero temperatures. When thawed, the resulting structure is macroporous, sponge-like, and mechanically durable. Due to these unique properties, cryogels have excellent potential for the treatment of patient-specific bone defects; however, there is little literature on their use in cleft-craniofacial defects. While 3D-printing technology currently lacks the spatial resolution to print the microstructure necessary for bone regeneration, it can be used to create site-specific molds. Thus, it is ideal to integrate these techniques for the fabrication of scaffolds with patient-specific geometry. Overall, all cryogels possessed appropriate geometry to allow for cell infiltration after 28 days. Additionally, suitable mechanical durability was demonstrated where, despite mold geometry, all cryogels could be compressed without exhibiting crack propagation. Such a patient-specific scaffold would be ideal in pediatric cleft-craniofacial defects, as these are complex 3D defects and children have less donor bone availability.

Composite Cryogel with Polyelectrolyte Complexes for Growth Factor Delivery

“…Therefore, to reinforce the strength of the cryogel for compression or other types of stress and to increase biocompatibility and accelerate biomineralization of the cryogel, HA was introduced. Mechanical measurements showed that addition of HA significantly increased the elastic modulus of CHI-PVA-HA-Hep-GA cryogel (1085 ± 428 kPa) and that the value was significantly higher in comparison to other cryogel-based scaffolds designed for bone regeneration [43][44][45][46][47][48][49]. Degradation experiments confirmed a decreased in vitro degradation rate of HA-containing cryogels, which is in line with other published data [45,50].…”

Three‐dimensional printing CT‐derived objects with controllable radiopacity

“…While early attempts at prosthesis printing were problematic, mainly due to the materials involved, 10 this area nevertheless holds great promise for the future, as printing methods improve and material selections expand. 3D printing has also been used to create CT-derived molds for tissue materials that cannot be printed, because of their nanoscale structure, 13 and to create hollow vascular structures which can be incorporated into flow phantoms. 12,14 Recently, there have been attempts to use various 3D printing technologies for constructing radiopaque objects.…”

Tissue engineering applications in otolaryngology—The state of translation

“…Heatmap representing the proportion of publications by year that utilized specific translational research methodologies from construct characterization to human trial to investigate craniofacial tissue engineering 49‐72,74‐77,79,81‐84,145‐197 …”