Han Yunda, Wang Heran, Guan Yuheng, Li Song, Yuan Zewei, Lu Lihua, Zheng Xiongfei
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shenyang University of Technology, Shenyang, 110870, People's Republic of China.
State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, People's Republic of China.
Biomed Mater. 2024 Apr 30;19(3). doi: 10.1088/1748-605X/ad407c.
Three-dimensional (3D) printing has emerged as a transformative technology for tissue engineering, enabling the production of structures that closely emulate the intricate architecture and mechanical properties of native biological tissues. However, the fabrication of complex microstructures with high accuracy using biocompatible, degradable thermoplastic elastomers poses significant technical obstacles. This is primarily due to the inherent soft-matter nature of such materials, which complicates real-time control of micro-squeezing, resulting in low fidelity or even failure. In this study, we employ Poly (L-lactide-co--caprolactone) (PLCL) as a model material and introduce a novel framework for high-precision 3D printing based on the material plasticization process. This approach significantly enhances the dynamic responsiveness of the start-stop transition during printing, thereby reducing harmful errors by up to 93%. Leveraging this enhanced material, we have efficiently fabricated arrays of multi-branched vascular scaffolds that exhibit exceptional morphological fidelity and possess elastic moduli that faithfully approximate the physiological modulus spectrum of native blood vessels, ranging from 2.5 to 45 MPa. The methodology we propose for the compatibilization and modification of elastomeric materials addresses the challenge of real-time precision control, representing a significant advancement in the domain of melt polymer 3D printing. This innovation holds considerable promise for the creation of detailed multi-branch vascular scaffolds and other sophisticated organotypic structures critical to advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
三维（3D）打印已成为组织工程领域的一项变革性技术，能够制造出与天然生物组织的复杂结构和力学性能极为相似的结构。然而，使用生物相容性、可降解的热塑性弹性体高精度制造复杂微结构存在重大技术障碍。这主要是由于此类材料固有的软物质特性，使得微挤压的实时控制变得复杂，导致保真度低甚至失败。在本研究中，我们采用聚（L-丙交酯-共-己内酯）（PLCL）作为模型材料，并引入了一种基于材料塑化过程的高精度3D打印新框架。这种方法显著提高了打印过程中启停转换的动态响应能力，从而将有害误差降低了高达93%。利用这种性能增强的材料，我们高效地制造了多分支血管支架阵列，这些支架具有出色的形态保真度，其弹性模量忠实地接近天然血管的生理模量范围，为2.5至45兆帕。我们提出的用于弹性体材料增容和改性的方法解决了实时精确控制的挑战，代表了熔融聚合物3D打印领域的一项重大进展。这一创新对于创建详细的多分支血管支架和其他对推进组织工程和再生医学至关重要的复杂器官型结构具有巨大的潜力。
