Search for: All records

Abstract Orbital implants are necessary for reconstructing fractured orbital walls and are traditionally fabricated using titanium or polyethylene, but these materials result in medical complications such as increased risk of implant migration and hemorrhaging. Therefore, orbital implants constructed from biocompatible and biodegradable polymers have been recently researched to mitigate these risks. Material extrusion three-dimensional (3D) printing techniques, especially fused deposition modeling (FDM), can be applied to produce patient-specific orbital implants. However, current structures fabricated by FDM usually possess poor mechanical properties and high surface roughness. In this work, an embedded FDM method is designed and implemented to fabricate polycaprolactone (PCL) orbital implants with increased mechanical properties and surface morphology through the development and utilization of a temperature-stable yield-stress suspension comprised of fumed silica particles and a sunflower oil solvent. The rheological properties of the suspension were measured and tuned to produce a viable support bath material above the melting temperature of PCL. Filaments, single-layer sheets, and tensile test samples were printed to optimize the printing parameters, verify the surface morphology, and validate the mechanical properties, respectively. After that, a numerical simulation was performed to determine the mechanical robustness of the designed orbital implant model. Finally, the orbital implant was printed, measured, and implanted into a mock-up orbital socket to verify the viability of the proposed embedded FDM method. 

Abstract Nanocomposites made from alginate and nanoclay are extensively applied for diverse biomedical applications. However, the lack of a clear understanding of the interactions between alginate and nanoclay makes it difficult to rationally design the nanocomposites for different material extrusion‐based 3D bioprinting strategies. Here, a combined analytical model is proposed to accurately predict the interaction mechanisms between alginate and nanoclay through small‐angle neutron scattering. These mechanisms are summarized into a phase diagram that can guide the design of alginate‐nanoclay nanocomposites for different bioprinting applications. The rheological properties of various nanocomposites are measured to validate the proposed interaction mechanisms at the macroscale. Accordingly, three representative extrusion‐based bioprinting strategies are linked with the nanocomposite design and applied to freeform fabricate complex structures. A roadmap is summarized to bridge the gap between biomaterial design and bioprinting processes, enabling the rapid and rational selection of biomaterial formula based on available 3D printing methods, and vice versa. 

Abstract Surgery is the most frequent treatment for patients with brain tumors. The construction of full‐scale human brain models, which is still challenging to realize via current manufacturing techniques, can effectively train surgeons before brain tumor surgeries. This paper aims to develop a set of three‐dimensional (3D) printing approaches to fabricate customized full‐scale human brain models for surgery training as well as specialized brain patches for wound healing after surgery. First, a brain patch designed to fit a wound's shape and size can be easily printed in and collected from a stimuli‐responsive yield‐stress support bath. Then, an inverse 3D printing strategy, called “peeling‐boiled‐eggs,” is proposed to fabricate full‐scale human brain models. In this strategy, the contour layer of a brain model is printed using a sacrificial ink to envelop the target brain core within a photocurable yield‐stress support bath. After crosslinking the contour layer, the as‐printed model can be harvested from the bath to photo crosslink the brain core, which can be eventually released by liquefying the contour layer. Both the brain patch and full‐scale human brain model are successfully printed to mimic the scenario of wound healing after removing a brain tumor, validating the effectiveness of the proposed 3D printing approaches. 

Lung cancer is a serious global health issue that requires the development of patient-specific, lung cancer model for surgical planning to train interventionalists and improve the accuracy of biopsies. Although the emergence of three-dimensional (3D) printing provides a promising solution to create customized models with complicated architectures, current 3D printing methods cannot accurately duplicate anatomical-level lung constructs with tumor(s) which are applicable for hands-on training and procedure planning. To address this issue, an embedded printing strategy is proposed to create respiratory bronchioles, blood vessels, and tumors in a photocurable yield-stress matrix bath. After crosslinking, a patient-specific lung cancer analogous model is produced, which has tunable transparency and mechanical properties to mimic lung parenchyma. This engineered model not only enables the practical training of fine-needle aspiration biopsy but also provides the necessary information, such as coordinates of aspiration, wound depth, and interference with surrounding tissues, for procedure optimization. 

Embedded ink writing (EIW) and direct ink writing (DIW) constitute the primary strategies for three-dimensional (3D) printing within the realm of material extrusion. These methods enable the rapid fabrication of complex 3D structures, utilizing either yield-stress support baths or self-supporting inks. Both these strategies have been extensively studied across a range of fields, including biomedical, soft robotics, and smart sensors, due to their outstanding print fidelity and compatibility with diverse ink materials. Particle additives capable of forming volume-filling 3D networks are frequently incorporated into polymer solvents. This integration is crucial for engineering the requisite microstructures essential for the formulation of successful support bath and ink materials. The interplay between the particle additives and polymer solvents is critical for achieving rheological tunability in various 3D printing strategies, yet this area has not been systematically reviewed. Therefore, in this critical review, we examined various mechanisms of particle–polymer interactions, the resulting microstructures, and their subsequent impact on mechanical and rheological properties. Overall, this work aims to serve as a foundational guideline for the design of next-generation materials in the field of extrusion additive manufacturing, specifically for EIW and DIW. 

Creating tissue and organ equivalents with intricate architectures and multiscale functional feature sizes is the first step toward the reconstruction of transplantable human tissues and organs. Existing embedded ink writing approaches are limited by achievable feature sizes ranging from hundreds of microns to tens of millimeters, which hinders their ability to accurately duplicate structures found in various human tissues and organs. In this study, a multiscale embedded printing (MSEP) strategy is developed, in which a stimuli-responsive yield-stress fluid is applied to facilitate the printing process. A dynamic layer height control method is developed to print the cornea with a smooth surface on the order of microns, which can effectively overcome the layered morphology in conventional extrusion-based three-dimensional bioprinting methods. Since the support bath is sensitive to temperature change, it can be easily removed after printing by tuning the ambient temperature, which facilitates the fabrication of human eyeballs with optic nerves and aortic heart valves with overhanging leaflets on the order of a few millimeters. The thermosensitivity of the support bath also enables the reconstruction of the full-scale human heart on the order of tens of centimeters by on-demand adding support bath materials during printing. The proposed MSEP demonstrates broader printable functional feature sizes ranging from microns to centimeters, providing a viable and reliable technical solution for tissue and organ printing in the future.