Fabrication of porous beta-tricalcium phosphate with microchannel and customized geometry based on gel-casting and rapid prototyping

Proc Inst Mech Eng H. 2011 Mar;225(3):315-23. doi: 10.1243/09544119JEIM769.

Abstract

The tissue engineering scaffolds with three-dimensional porous structure are regarded to be beneficial to facilitate a sufficient supply of nutrients and enable cell ingrowth in bone reconstruction. However, the pores in scaffolds tend to be blocked by the cell ingrowth and result in a restraint of nutrient supply in the further side of the scaffold. An indirect approach of combining the rapid prototyping and gel-casting technique is introduced in this study to fabricate beta-tricalcium phosphate (beta-TCP) scaffolds which not only have interconnected porous structure, but also have a microchannel network inside. The scaffold was designed with customized geometry that matches the defect area, and a double-scale (micropores-microchannel) porous structure inside that is beneficial for cell ingrowth. The scaffolds fabricated have an open, uniform, and interconnected porous architecture with a pore size of 200-400 microm, and posses an internal channel network with a diameter of 600 microm. The porosity was controllable. The compressive yield strength was 4.5 MPa with a porosity of 70 per cent. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that these fabrication processes do not change the crystal structure and chemical composition of beta-TCP. With this technique, it was also possible to fabricate porous scaffolds with desired pore size, porosity, and microchannel, as well as customized geometries by other bioceramics.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bone Substitutes
  • Calcium Phosphates / chemistry*
  • Computer-Aided Design*
  • Dogs
  • Femur / anatomy & histology
  • Microtechnology
  • Porosity
  • Tissue Engineering / methods
  • Tissue Scaffolds / chemistry*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • X-Ray Diffraction

Substances

  • Bone Substitutes
  • Calcium Phosphates
  • beta-tricalcium phosphate