Melt Electrowriting of Complex 3D Anatomically Relevant Scaffolds

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

Onur Bas¹  Tara Shabab²  Tim Henry²  Petra Mela³  Matthias Menne⁴  Elena M. De-Juan-Pardo⁵  Dietmar W. Hutmacher⁶  Diana M. Rojas-González⁷  Navid T. Saidy⁸ 

[1] ARC ITTC in Additive Biomanufacturing, Queensland University of Technology, Musk Avenue, Brisbane, QLD, Australia;Centre in Regenerative Medicine, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Kelvin Grove, QLD, Australia;Department of Biohybrid and Medical Textiles (BioTex), AME-Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;Department of Cardiovascular Engineering, Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Helmholtz Institute, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany;Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia;Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany;Medical Materials and Implants, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany;School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD, Australia;Translational 3d Printing Laboratory for Advanced Tissue Engineering (T3mPLATE), Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands and Centre for Medical Research, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia;

关键词: melt electrowriting;    3D printing;    biomimetic;    fused deposition modeling;    personalized scaffolds;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fbioe.2020.00793

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The manufacture of fibrous scaffolds with tailored micrometric features and anatomically relevant three-dimensional (3D) geometries for soft tissue engineering applications remains a great challenge. Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an advanced additive manufacturing technique capable of depositing predefined micrometric fibers. However, it has been so far inherently limited to simple planar and tubular scaffold geometries because of the need to avoid polymer jet instabilities. In this work, we surmount the technical boundaries of MEW to enable the manufacture of complex fibrous scaffolds with simultaneous controlled micrometric and patient-specific anatomic features. As an example of complex geometry, aortic root scaffolds featuring the sinuses of Valsalva were realized. By modeling the electric field strength associated with the MEW process for these constructs, we found that the combination of a conductive core mandrel with a non-conductive 3D printed model reproducing the complex geometry minimized the variability of the electric field thus enabling the accurate deposition of fibers. We validated these findings experimentally and leveraged the micrometric resolution of MEW to fabricate unprecedented fibrous aortic root scaffolds with anatomically relevant shapes and biomimetic microstructures and mechanical properties. Furthermore, we demonstrated the fabrication of patient-specific aortic root constructs from the 3D reconstruction of computed tomography clinical data.

【 授权许可】

Unknown