Valchanov Petar, Dukov Nikolay, Pavlov Stoyan, Kontny Andreas, Dikova Tsanka
Depatment of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
Department of Medical Equipment, Electronic and Information Technologies in Healthcare, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Varna, 9002 Varna, Bulgaria.
Gels. 2023 Jul 5;9(7):547. doi: 10.3390/gels9070547.
Nanosilicate-polysaccharide composite hydrogels are a well-studied class of materials in regenerative medicine that combine good 3D printability, staining, and biological properties, making them an excellent candidate material for complex bone scaffolds. The aim of this study was to develop a hydrogel suitable for 3D printing that has biological and radiological properties similar to those of the natural bone and to develop protocols for their histological and radiological analysis. We synthesized a hydrogel based on alginate, methylcellulose, and laponite, then 3D printed it into a series of complex bioscaffolds. The scaffolds were scanned with CT and CBCT scanners and exported as DICOM datasets, then cut into histological slides and stained using standard histological protocols. From the DICOM datasets, the average value of the voxels in Hounsfield Units (HU) was calculated and compared with natural trabecular bone. In the histological sections, we tested the effect of standard histological stains on the hydrogel matrix in the context of future cytological and histological analysis. The results confirmed that an alginate/methylcellulose/laponite-based composite hydrogel can be used for 3D printing of complex high fidelity three-dimensional scaffolds. This opens an avenue for the development of dynamic biological physical phantoms for bone tissue engineering and the development of new CT-based imaging algorithms for the needs of radiology and radiation therapy.
纳米硅酸盐 - 多糖复合水凝胶是再生医学中一类经过充分研究的材料,它兼具良好的3D打印性、染色性和生物学特性,使其成为复杂骨支架的理想候选材料。本研究的目的是开发一种适合3D打印的水凝胶,其生物学和放射学特性与天然骨相似,并制定其组织学和放射学分析方案。我们基于藻酸盐、甲基纤维素和锂皂石合成了一种水凝胶,然后将其3D打印成一系列复杂的生物支架。使用CT和CBCT扫描仪对支架进行扫描,并导出为DICOM数据集,然后切成组织学切片并使用标准组织学方案进行染色。从DICOM数据集中,计算出亨氏单位(HU)中体素的平均值,并与天然小梁骨进行比较。在组织学切片中,我们在未来的细胞学和组织学分析背景下测试了标准组织学染色对水凝胶基质的影响。结果证实,基于藻酸盐/甲基纤维素/锂皂石的复合水凝胶可用于复杂高保真三维支架的3D打印。这为骨组织工程动态生物物理模型的开发以及满足放射学和放射治疗需求的基于CT的新成像算法的开发开辟了一条途径。