Bioactive porous structures with high content of bioactive fillers for bone regeneration via 3D printing

• Grant number: 22/16119-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): December 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Antonio Pessan
• Grantee: Leonardo Alves Pinto
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Orthopedic procedures for bone repairs have had a high demand due to the growing elderly population and people who are victims of traffic accidents, cancer and bone disorders. Bone grafting with a tissue sample from the patient is one of the main surgical techniques for repairing and reconstructing fractures and bone defects. However, due to the limited amount of possible use of the patient's own material, there is a growing demand for artificial and functional bone grafts to repair injuries or defects. In this perspective, developing new biomaterials suitable for replacing bone tissue is considered of social and technological importance. Thus, this project proposes the development of porous structures via 3D printing with "bioinks" of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites with a high content of ceramic fillers, such as Hydroxyapatite and Biosilicate®, aiming at their applicability in bone substitutes. The objective of this work will be to design newly non-degradable and non-bioabsorbable porous structures with bioactivity, controlled morphology, mechanical properties and permeability to body fluids/proteins sufficient to provide adequate biomechanical support in the initial stage of bone repair and coexist with the ingrowth of the new bone. The three-dimensional structures to be developed through 3D printing with bioinks will be able to avoid the disadvantage of unstable biomechanical function during the degradation process of biodegradable scaffolds, in addition to being custom designed aiming at a personalized treatment and compensating for the difficulty of bone regeneration in patients elderly, acting as a porous prosthesis and stimulating bone regeneration. (AU)