Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Complex Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Sci Adv. 2021 Feb 3;7(6). doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe9499. Print 2021 Feb.
Central airway obstruction is a life-threatening disorder causing a high physical and psychological burden to patients. Standard-of-care airway stents are silicone tubes, which provide immediate relief but are prone to migration. Thus, they require additional surgeries to be removed, which may cause tissue damage. Customized bioresorbable airway stents produced by 3D printing would be highly needed in the management of this disorder. However, biocompatible and biodegradable materials for 3D printing of elastic medical implants are still lacking. Here, we report dual-polymer photoinks for digital light 3D printing of customized and bioresorbable airway stents. These stents exhibit tunable elastomeric properties with suitable biodegradability. In vivo study in healthy rabbits confirmed biocompatibility and showed that the stents stayed in place for 7 weeks after which they became radiographically invisible. This work opens promising perspectives for the rapid manufacturing of the customized medical devices for which high precision, elasticity, and degradability are sought.
中央气道阻塞是一种危及生命的疾病，给患者带来了很高的身体和心理负担。标准的气道支架是硅酮管，它能立即缓解症状，但容易移位。因此，需要进行额外的手术取出，这可能会导致组织损伤。定制的生物可吸收气道支架通过 3D 打印可以高度满足这种疾病的治疗需求。然而，用于弹性医疗植入物 3D 打印的生物相容性和可生物降解材料仍然缺乏。在这里，我们报告了用于定制和生物可吸收气道支架的数字光 3D 打印的双聚合物光墨水。这些支架表现出可调节的弹性性能和合适的生物降解性。在健康兔子的体内研究中证实了生物相容性，并表明支架在 7 周后仍留在原位，之后在影像学上变得不可见。这项工作为快速制造高精度、弹性和可降解性的定制医疗器械开辟了广阔的前景。
