3d Printed Ti6al4v Bone Scaffolds With Different Pore Structure Effects on Bone Ingrowth

Abstract

The pore size, pore structure and porosity of porous scaffold play a vital role in bone regeneration, but its optimal shape is still unclear. In this study four kinds of porous titanium alloy scaffolds with similar porosity (65%) and pore size (650µm) and different structures were prepared by selective laser melting. Four scaffolds were implanted into the distal femur of rabbits to evaluate their bone tissue growth in vivo. Micro-CT and hard tissue sections were performed 6 and 12 weeks after the operation to reveal the bone growth of the porous scaffold. The results show that diamond lattice unit (DIA) bone growth is the best in four topological scaffolds. Through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis, the permeability, velocity and flow trajectory inside the scaffold structure were calculated. The internal fluid velocity difference of the DIA structure is the smallest, and the trajectory of fluid flow inside the scaffold is the longest. It is beneficial to the growth of blood vessels and the transport of nutrients, and can promote bone formation. In this study, the mechanism of bone growth in different structures was revealed by the method of in vivo experiment combined with CFD, providing a new theoretical basis for the design of bone scaffolds in the future.