Lee Ming-Chan, Pan Cheng-Tang, Huang Ruo-Jiun, Ou Hsin-You, Yu Chun-Yen, Shiue Yow-Ling
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
Department of Mechanical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung 804, Taiwan.
Bioengineering (Basel). 2024 Jul 19;11(7):731. doi: 10.3390/bioengineering11070731.
This study proposes a bile duct stent based on indirect 3D printing technology. Four ratio materials were synthesized from lactic acid (LA) and glycolide (GA) monomers by melt polymerization: PLA, PLGA (70:30), PLGA (50:50), and PLGA (30:70). The four kinds of material powders were preliminarily degraded, and the appearance was observed with an optical microscope (OM) and a camera. The weight and appearance of the four materials changed significantly after four weeks of degradation, which met the conditions for materials to be degraded within 4-6 weeks. Among them, PLGA (50:50) lost the most-the weight dropped to 13.4%. A stent with an outer diameter of 10 mm and an inner diameter of 8 mm was successfully manufactured by indirect 3D printing technology, demonstrating the potential of our research. Then, the degradation experiment was carried out on a cylindrical stent with a diameter of 6 mm and a height of 3 mm. The weight loss of the sample was less than that of the powder degradation, and the weight loss of PLGA (50:50) was the largest-the weight dropped to 79.6%. The nano-indenter system measured the mechanical properties of materials. Finally, human liver cancer cells Hep-3B were used to conduct in vitro cytotoxicity tests on the scaffolds to test the biocompatibility of the materials. A bile duct stent meeting commercial size requirements has been developed, instilling confidence in the potential of our research for future medical applications.
本研究提出了一种基于间接3D打印技术的胆管支架。通过熔融聚合法由乳酸（LA）和乙交酯（GA）单体制备了四种比例的材料：聚乳酸（PLA）、聚乳酸-羟基乙酸共聚物（PLGA，70:30）、聚乳酸-羟基乙酸共聚物（PLGA，50:50）和聚乳酸-羟基乙酸共聚物（PLGA，30:70）。对这四种材料粉末进行初步降解，并用光学显微镜（OM）和相机观察其外观。四种材料在降解四周后重量和外观发生了显著变化，符合材料在4至6周内降解的条件。其中，PLGA（50:50）失重最多，重量降至13.4%。通过间接3D打印技术成功制造出外径为10mm、内径为8mm的支架，证明了我们研究的潜力。然后，对直径为6mm、高度为3mm的圆柱形支架进行降解实验。样品的失重小于粉末降解时的失重，且PLGA（50:50）的失重最大，重量降至79.6%。用纳米压痕系统测量材料的力学性能。最后，使用人肝癌细胞Hep-3B对支架进行体外细胞毒性测试，以检测材料的生物相容性。已开发出符合商业尺寸要求的胆管支架，这让我们对该研究在未来医学应用中的潜力充满信心。
