Gregory, D.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-2489-5462, Fricker, A.T.R., Mitrev, P. et al. (8 more authors) (2023) Additive manufacturing of polyhydroxyalkanoate-based blends using fused deposition modelling for the development of biomedical devices. Journal of Functional Biomaterials, 14 (1). 40. ISSN 2079-4983
Abstract
In the last few decades Additive Manufacturing has advanced and is becoming important for biomedical applications. In this study we look at a variety of biomedical devices including, bone implants, tooth implants, osteochondral tissue repair patches, general tissue repair patches, nerve guidance conduits (NGCs) and coronary artery stents to which fused deposition modelling (FDM) can be applied. We have proposed CAD designs for these devices and employed a cost-effective 3D printer to fabricate proof-of-concept prototypes. We highlight issues with current CAD design and slicing and suggest optimisations of more complex designs targeted towards biomedical applications. We demonstrate the ability to print patient specific implants from real CT scans and reconstruct missing structures by means of mirroring and mesh mixing. A blend of Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a family of biocompatible and bioresorbable natural polymers and Poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), a known bioresorbable medical polymer is used. Our characterisation of the PLA/PHA filament suggest that its tensile properties might be useful to applications such as stents, NGCs, and bone scaffolds. In addition to this, the proof-of-concept work for other applications shows that FDM is very useful for a large variety of other soft tissue applications, however other more elastomeric MCL-PHAs need to be used.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 by the authors. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Polyhydroxyalkanoates; thermoplastic polymers; 3D printing; tissue engineering; biomedical devices; regenerative medicine |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/V012126/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 08 Feb 2023 14:33 |
Last Modified: | 08 Feb 2023 14:33 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI AG |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/jfb14010040 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:196135 |