Thompson, Suzanne M., Nieuwenhuijze, Marianne J., Low, Lisa Kane, De Vries, Raymond, Promovendi PHPC, Health promotion, and RS: CAPHRI - R6 - Promoting Health & Personalised Care
Melchels, Ferry P. W., Bertoldi, Katia, Gabbrielli, Ruggero, Velders, Aldrik H., Feijen, Jan, Grijpma, Dirk W., Biomaterialen algemeen, Nanobiotechnology and Advanced Therapeutic Materials (NANOBIOMAT), Biomaterials Science and Technology, and Faculty of Science and Technology
The technologies employed for the preparation of conventional tissue engineering scaffolds restrict the materials choice and the extent to which the architecture can be designed. Here we show the versatility of stereolithography with respect to materials and freedom of design. Porous scaffolds are designed with computer software and built with either a poly(D,L-lactide)-based resin or a poly(D,L-lactide-co-epsilon-caprolactone)-based resin. Characterisation of the scaffolds by micro-computed tomography shows excellent reproduction of the designs. The mechanical properties are evaluated in compression, and show good agreement with finite element predictions. The mechanical properties of scaffolds can be controlled by the combination of material and scaffold pore architecture. The presented technology and materials enable an accurate preparation of tissue engineering scaffolds with a large freedom of design, and properties ranging from rigid and strong to highly flexible and elastic. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Melchels, Ferry P. W., Feijen, Jan, Grijpma, Dirk W., Biomaterialen algemeen, Nanobiotechnology and Advanced Therapeutic Materials (NANOBIOMAT), Faculty of Science and Technology, and Biomaterials Science and Technology
Porous polylactide constructs were prepared by stereolithography, for the first time without the use of reactive diluents. Star-shaped poly(D,L-lactide) oligomers with 2, 3 and 6 arms were synthesised, end-functionalised with methacryloyl chloride and photo-crosslinked in the presence of ethyl lactate as a non-reactive diluent. The molecular weights of the arms of the macromers were 0.2, 0.6, 1.1 and 5 kg/mol, allowing variation of the crosslink density of the resulting networks. Networks prepared from macromers of which the molecular weight per arm was 0.6 kg/mol or higher had good mechanical properties, similar to linear high-molecular weight poly(D,L-lactide). A resin based on a 2-armed poly(D,L-lactide) macromer with a molecular weight of 0.6 kg/mol per arm (75 wt%), ethyl lactate (19 wt%), photo-initiator (6 wt%), inhibitor and dye was prepared. Using this resin, films and computer-designed porous constructs were accurately fabricated by stereolithography. Pre-osteoblasts showed good adherence to these photo-crosslinked networks. The proliferation rate on these materials was comparable to that on high-molecular weight poly(D,L-lactide) and tissue culture polystyrene. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
