Additively Manufactured Multi-Morphology Bone-like Porous Scaffolds: Experiments and Micro-Computed Tomography-Based Finite Element Modeling Approaches

Tissue engineering, whose aim is to repair or replace damaged tissues by combining the principle of biomaterials and cell transplantation, is one of the most important and interdisciplinary fields of regenerative medicine. Despite remarkable progress, there are still some limitations in the tissue engineering field, among which designing and manufacturing suitable scaffolds. With the advent of additive manufacturing (AM), a breakthrough happened in the production of complex geometries. In this vein, AM has enhanced the field of bioprinting in generating biomimicking organs or artificial tissues possessing the required porous graded structure. In this study, triply periodic minimal surface structures, suitable to manufacture scaffolds mimicking bone's heterogeneous nature, have been studied experimentally and numerically; the influence of the printing direction and printing material has been investigated. Various multi-morphology scaffolds, including gyroid, diamond, and I-graph and wrapped package graph (I-WP), with different transitional zone, have been three-dimensional (3D) printed and tested under compression. Further, a micro-computed tomography (mu CT) analysis has been employed to obtain the real geometry of printed scaffolds. Finite element analyses have been also performed and compared with experimental results. Finally, the scaffolds' behavior under complex loading has been investigated based on the combination of mu CT and finite element modeling.

Automated summary

Tissue engineering, a critical interdisciplinary field in regenerative medicine, aims to repair or replace damaged tissues using biomaterials and cell transplantation. Additive manufacturing (AM) has revolutionized the production of complex geometries, advancing bioprinting in generating biomimicking organs and tissues with required porous graded structures. This study experimentally and numerically investigates suitable triply periodic minimal surface structures for manufacturing scaffolds mimicking the heterogeneous nature of bone. The influence of printing direction and material is also explored.