The use of both bioglass (BG) and β tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) for bone replacement applications has been studied extensively due to the materials’ high biocompatibility and ability to resorb when implanted in the body. 3D printing has been explored as a fast and versatile technique for the fabrication of porous bone scaffolds. This project investigates the effects of using different combinations of a composite BG and β-TCP powder for 3D printing of porous bone scaffolds. Porous 3D powder printed bone scaffolds of BG, β-TCP, 50/50 BG/β-TCP and 70/30 BG/β-TCP compositions were subject to a variety of characterization and biocompatibility tests. The porosity characteristics, surface roughness, mechanical strength, viability for cell proliferation, material cytotoxicity and in vitro bioactivity were assessed. The results show that the scaffolds can support osteoblast-like MG-63 cells growth both on the surface of and within the scaffold material and do not show alarming cytotoxicity; the porosity and surface characteristics of the scaffolds are appropriate. Of the two tested composite materials, the 70/30 BG/β-TCP scaffold proved to be superior in terms of biocompatibility and mechanical strength. The mechanical strength of the scaffolds makes them unsuitable for load bearing applications. However, they can be useful for other applications such as bone fillers.

The aim of this study was to predefine the pore structure of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds with different macro pore sizes (500, 750, and 1000 µm), to characterize β-TCP scaffolds, and to investigate the growth behavior of cells within these scaffolds. The lead structures for directional bone growth (sacrificial structures) were produced from polylactide (PLA) using the fused deposition modeling techniques. The molds were then filled with β-TCP slurry and sintered at 1250 °C, whereby the lead structures (voids) were burnt out. The scaffolds were mechanically characterized (native and after incubation in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 28 d). In addition, biocompatibility was investigated by live/dead, cell proliferation and lactate dehydrogenase assays. The scaffolds with a strand spacing of 500 µm showed the highest compressive strength, both untreated (3.4 ± 0.2 MPa) and treated with simulated body fluid (2.8 ± 0.2 MPa). The simulated body fluid reduced the stability of the samples to 82% (500), 62% (750) and 56% (1000). The strand spacing and the powder properties of the samples were decisive factors for stability. The fact that β-TCP is a biocompatible material is confirmed by the experiments. No lactate dehydrogenase activity of the cells was measured, which means that no cytotoxicity of the material could be detected. In addition, the proliferation rate of all three sizes increased steadily over the test days until saturation. The cells were largely adhered to or within the scaffolds and did not migrate through the scaffolds to the bottom of the cell culture plate. The cells showed increased growth, not only on the outer surface (e.g., 500: 36 ± 33 vital cells/mm² after three days, 180 ± 33 cells/mm² after seven days, and 308 ± 69 cells/mm² after 10 days), but also on the inner surface of the samples (e.g., 750: 49 ± 17 vital cells/mm² after three days, 200 ± 84 cells/mm² after seven days, and 218 ± 99 living cells/mm² after 10 days). This means that the inverse 3D printing method is very suitable for the presetting of the pore structure and for the ingrowth of the cells. The experiments on which this work is based have shown that the fused deposition modeling process with subsequent slip casting and sintering is well suited for the production of scaffolds for bone replacement.

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Bone defects introduced by accidents or diseases are very painful for the patient and their treatment leads to high expenses for the healthcare systems. When a bone defect reaches a critical size, the body is not able to restore this defect by itself. In this case a bone graft is required, either an autologous one taken from the patient or an artificial one made of a bioceramic material such as calcium phosphate. In this study β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) was dispersed in a polymer matrix containing poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(ethylene glycole) (PEG). These compounds were extruded to filaments, which were used for 3D printing of cylindrical scaffolds via Fused Deposition of Ceramics (FDC) technique. After shaping, the printed parts were debindered and sintered. The components combined macro- and micropores with a pore size of 1 mm and 0.01 mm, respectively, which are considered beneficial for bone healing. The compressive strength of sintered cylindrical scaffolds exceeded 72 MPa at an open porosity of 35%. The FDC approach seems promising for manufacturing patient specific bioceramic bone grafts.

The objective of this study was to vary the wall thicknesses and pore sizes of inversely printed 3D molded bodies. Wall thicknesses were varied from 1500 to 2000 to 2500 µm. The pores had sizes of 500, 750 and 1000 µm. The sacrificial structures were fabricated from polylactide (PLA) using fused deposition modeling (FDM). To obtain the final bioceramic scaffolds, a water-based slurry was filled into the PLA molds. The PLA sacrificial molds were burned out at approximately 450 °C for 4 h. Subsequently, the samples were sintered at 1250 °C for at least 4 h. The scaffolds were mechanically characterized (native and after incubation in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 28 days). In addition, the biocompatibility was assessed by live/dead staining. The scaffolds with a strand spacing of 500 µm showed the highest compressive strength; there was no significant difference in compressive strength regardless of pore size. The specimens with 1000 µm pore size showed a significant dependence on strand width. Thus, the specimens (1000 µm pores) with 2500 µm wall thickness showed the highest compressive strength of 5.97 + 0.89 MPa. While the 1000(1500) showed a value of 2.90 + 0.67 MPa and the 1000(2000) of 3.49 + 1.16 MPa. As expected for beta-Tricalciumphosphate (β-TCP), very good biocompatibility was observed with increasing cell numbers over the experimental period.