In situ repair of bone and cartilage defects using 3D scanning and 3D printing

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a rapidly emerging technology that promises to transform tissue engineering into a commercially successful biomedical industry. However, the use of robotic bioprinters alone is not sufficient for disease treatment. This study aimed to report the combined application of 3D scanning and 3D printing for treating bone and cartilage defects. Three different kinds of defect models were created to mimic three orthopedic diseases: large segmental defects of long bones, free-form fracture of femoral condyle, and International Cartilage Repair Society grade IV chondral lesion. Feasibility of in situ 3D bioprinting for these diseases was explored. The 3D digital models of samples with defects and corresponding healthy parts were obtained using high-resolution 3D scanning. The Boolean operation was used to achieve the shape of the defects, and then the target geometries were imported in a 3D bioprinter. Two kinds of photopolymerized hydrogels were synthesized as bioinks. Finally, the defects of bone and cartilage were restored perfectly in situ using 3D bioprinting. The results of this study suggested that 3D scanning and 3D bioprinting could provide another strategy for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Recent Advances in Enabling Technologies in 3D Printing for Precision Medicine

“…These devices provide advantages for translation such as user‐friendly designs, low costs and ease of sterilization. Initial work has demonstrated the potential of these handheld direct‐write devices to be used for treatment of chondral injuries, bone nonunions, and skin wounds . The manually operated tools provide the ability to deposit bioinks in these injury sites without the need for expensive, intrusive hardware in the operating room.…”

“…The manually operated tools provide the ability to deposit bioinks in these injury sites without the need for expensive, intrusive hardware in the operating room. While these devices provide less control over material deposition compared to automated biofabrication platforms, various handheld biofabrication devices have incorporated enabling technologies such as multimaterial microfluidic and core–shell extruders . These compact devices provide accessible platforms to effectively translate some enabling technologies to the clinic.…”

“…One group built a robotic arm inkjet bioprinter for in situ printing for repair of skin defects with PEGDA . Others developed a remote center of motion mechanism (RCM) bioprinter that is compatible with minimally invasive surgery (MIS) for treatment of critical size bone and cartilage defects . MIS has been shown to offer many benefits compared to more invasive surgeries, including decreased scarring, faster recovery times and shorter hospital stays.…”

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

“…Recently, in situ bioprinting has shown success in three different models of orthopaedic defects: long bone segmental defects, defect of the femoral condyle, and chondral lesion. Using two different kinds of photo polymerizable hydrogels: sodium alginate and modified hyaluronic acid, the bone and cartilage defects were rapidly reconstructed via 3D digital models in situ (Li et al, ). The technique introduced a novel strategy for printing the biologically active construct in patient‐specific manner directly at the site of injury in much shorter time duration, as schematically represented in Figure .…”

Current advances in solid free-form techniques for osteochondral tissue engineering

“…[40] study, the alginate cross-linking with calcium sulfate was initiated inside the printing cartridge and subsequently printed with the specific size and shape of defects formed in an ex vivo bovine femoral condyle. In a similar approach, Li et al [40] applied 3D scanning and bioprinting for repairing osteochondral defects (Fig. 4).…”