3D PRINTING OF BIOCOMPATIBLE CRYOGELS FOR BONE TISSUE ENGINEERING

Abstract

Natural biopolymers are highly valued and commonly utilized in tissue engineering to create scaffolds that support living cells. This is due to their exceptional biocompatibility and the fact that their degradation rate can be controlled. However, the shape and average pore size are crucial in biological processes that influence the kinetics of cell proliferation and tissue regeneration processes linked to the production of extracellular matrix. For the construction of high-accuracy hydrogel scaffolds via 3D printing, the shear thinning characteristics of the bioinks used frequently result in morphological compromises like smaller pore diameters. Here, we introduced a new mixture of gelatin and oxidized alginate (Gel/OxAlg) that has been optimized for use in 3D printing and cryogelation techniques. This composite formulation allows for the creation of highly porous and biocompatible hydrogel scaffolds with extra-large pore sizes (d > 100 μm) using a combination of 3D printing and cryogelation techniques. These scaffolds have the potential to serve as a platform for various tissue engineering applications, and their morphological properties and cell viability data can be tailored accordingly. Overall, our approach offers a simple and cost-effective method for constructing hydrogel scaffolds with high accuracy.