AI Networking Cookbook: Practical recipes for AI-assisted network automation and development
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A strong negative relationship between pH and mass loss indicates that pH is a major mechanistic marker of deterioration, and highlights the importance of scaffold design and nanoparticle incorporation in controlling scaffold biodegradation.
This study provides a practical framework for creating intrafilamentary porosity into 3D-printed PCL scaffolds with improved surface-mediated biological performance.
Overall, PTB4 achieved the best balance among printability, mechanical compatibility, cytocompatibility, angiogenesis-related activity, and osteogenic performance, supporting low-dose BT modification as a promising strategy for safe, printable scaffolds for critical-size craniofacial and oral bone defect repair.
Background/Objectives: Shape-memory biodegradable scaffolds (4D scaffolds) represent promising platforms for minimally invasive tissue engineering and localized drug delivery. This study investigated how two different fabrication techniques, electrospinning (ES) and extrusion-based direct ink writing (DIW), influence the structural, thermal, mechanical, shape-memory, and drug-release properties of poly(L-lactide-co-caprolactone) (PLA/PCL 70:30) scaffolds loaded with dexamethasone (DXM). Methods: DXM-loaded PLA/PCL 70:30 scaffolds were fabricated by ES and DIW. The resulting matrices were characterized in terms of morphology, mass, thickness, drug-loading efficiency, thermal properties by differential scanning calorimetry, shape-memory performance, tensile mechanical properties, and in vitro DXM release. Results: Both fabrication techniques produced DXM-loaded matrices with comparable mass and thickness and high loading efficiencies (>82%). Glass transition temperatures ranged between 33 and 39 °C, supporting thermally induced shape recovery under physiologically relevant conditions, while ES processing was associated with higher polymer crystallinity. All scaffolds exhibited shape-memory behavior, with recovery ratios exceeding 90%. ES scaffolds displayed a microporous nanofibrous architecture, whereas DIW scaffolds showed a more open and highly porous structure. These morphological differences were reflected in their mechanical behavior: ES scaffolds exhibited higher tensile strength (up to 16.5 MPa vs. 1.9 MPa) and elongation at break (up to 320% vs. 243%). Drug-release profiles were also fabrication-dependent, with ES scaffolds reaching a plateau at approximately 80% DXM release, whereas DIW scaffolds showed near-complete release within 48 h. Conclusions: Both fabrication approaches preserved the thermoresponsive shape-memory behavior of PLA/PCL 70:30 but generated distinct scaffold architectures that strongly influenced mechanical performance and DXM-release kinetics.
Heterotopic ossification (HO) is a clinically challenging complication after trauma or orthopedic surgery. This study evaluated a hybrid biodegradable scaffold for localized peri-osseous delivery of agents relevant to HO-risk and bone-healing environments. Polycaprolactone (PCL) mesh scaffolds were fabricated using solvent-cast additive manufacturing as flexible macro-scale barriers, while poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanofibers incorporating indomethacin, teicoplanin, and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) were prepared using electrospinning and coaxial electrospinning. Scaffold morphology, wettability, mechanical behavior, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry profiles, in vitro release, rabbit local/systemic release, and peri-implant histology were evaluated. The PCL mesh showed an ultimate tensile strength of 26.2 ± 2.6 MPa and a maximum strain of 337%. After 3 days in phosphate-buffered saline, the assembled PCL mesh/PLGA nanofiber scaffold retained comparable tensile properties, with an ultimate tensile strength of 24.8 ± 2.0 MPa and maximum strain of 334 ± 6%, indicating preserved flexibility under hydrated conditions. Drug-loaded PLGA nanofibers showed reduced tensile strength compared with pristine PLGA fibers, indicating that drug incorporation affected nanofiber handling and durability. In vitro testing demonstrated initial burst release of indomethacin and teicoplanin followed by sustained release, whereas BMP-2 release persisted for more than 30 days. In healthy rabbits, local teicoplanin and indomethacin levels were sustained for 28 days with substantially lower systemic levels. Histology demonstrated an early peri-implant inflammatory response that decreased over time. As no validated HO model or ectopic bone quantification was used, the findings support scaffold feasibility and localized delivery, not proven HO prevention. Further disease-model efficacy, biological activity, dose optimization, degradation, and safety studies are required before clinical translation.
This review highlights recent progress in 3D‑printed Alg-based scaffolds for BTE, emphasizing how advanced fabrication techniques and BGs incorporation contribute to improved biological performance and structural reinforcement.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a biodegradable polymer widely employed in biomedical applications. This polymer can also be applied in additive manufacturing to obtain complex morphologies, even when changes in some of its properties are considered, such as the presence of photoinitiators, additives, and other polymers commonly found in light-cured resins. In this case, since photocurable resin formulations are subjected to UV-induced crosslinking during the 3D printing process, their degradation behaviour may differ substantially from that of conventional thermoplastic PLA. In this study, multifunctional PLA-based composite scaffolds incorporating poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), hydroxyapatite (HAp), and 45S5 bioactive glass (BG) were fabricated via liquid crystal display (LCD) 3D printing using a gyroid architecture for bone tissue regeneration applications. The proposed composite combines a biopolymeric matrix with bioactive ceramic fillers and a piezoelectric polymer as an additional component in an innovative approach to promote synergistic structural, thermal, rheological, and functional effects due to the high biocompatibility and bioactivity of the HAp and BG, enhanced by the expected piezoelectricity of the PVDF. The printed scaffolds were characterised by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, photopolymerisation kinetics, differential scanning calorimetry, rheological testing, compression testing, and Shore A hardness measurements. The results indicated that PLA remains predominantly amorphous after printing, while crystalline phases associated with PVDF and HAp were identified. Microstructural analyses revealed satisfactory dispersion of fillers within the polymer matrix. Spectroscopic analysis revealed significant intermolecular interactions and a β-phase content of PVDF close to 50%, which is relevant for piezoelectric functionality. The combination of bioactive ceramic fillers and an electroactive polymer within a gyroid architecture yields a versatile potentially electroactive scaffold platform with tunable properties, highlighting its possible applicability for advanced bone tissue engineering applications and providing a foundation for future biological investigations.
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