3D Powder Printed Bioglass and β-Tricalcium Phosphate Bone Scaffolds

Abstract

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.

Bone Regeneration, Reconstruction and Use of Osteogenic Cells; from Basic Knowledge, Animal Models to Clinical Trials

“…Calcium phosphates are a commonly used material, based on their osteointegrative and osteoconductive characteristics. In the body, calcium phosphates form a hydroxyapatite layer, an essential ingredient for bone formation that enhances tissue integration [131]. A study that compared the suitability of β-TCP and bioglass combinations of scaffold materials found that in load bearing applications, the mechanical techniques were limited by 3D printing, despite their biocompatibility properties [131].…”

“…In the body, calcium phosphates form a hydroxyapatite layer, an essential ingredient for bone formation that enhances tissue integration [131]. A study that compared the suitability of β-TCP and bioglass combinations of scaffold materials found that in load bearing applications, the mechanical techniques were limited by 3D printing, despite their biocompatibility properties [131]. The review by Popov et al gives the example of titanium 3D printed implant, admitting that the use of metal is a novelty in implantations and therefore there are a lot of questions needing to be answered before undergoing clinical trials [128].…”

Additive Manufacturing for Guided Bone Regeneration: A Perspective for Alveolar Ridge Augmentation

“…Doping the TCP scaffold with bioactive compounds can improve biocompatibility [ 103 ]. To facilitate bone formation and faster mineralization, TCP scaffolds were doped with SrO and MgO [ 104 ].…”

Improved Bioactivity of 3D Printed Porous Titanium Alloy Scaffold with Chitosan/Magnesium-Calcium Silicate Composite for Orthopaedic Applications

“…However, traditional fabrication methods do not allow fabrication of complicated porous structures with high resolution, therefore it has not been easy to predict the mechanical properties of designed scaffolds beforehand [9]. It was only the recent development of additive manufacturing (AM) technology, especially the powder bed fusion method, that allowed us to fabricate complicated porous scaffolds for hard tissue engineering [10,11].…”