Three-dimensional printing of biocompatible scaffolds for tissue engineered constructs

Abstract

The formation of porous matrix structures (scaffolds) from biocompatible polymers and their composites with finely dispersed hydroxyapatite via air pressure–aided 3D printing and digital light processing (DLP) is studied. A triblock copolymer (polyethylene glycol/poly-ε-caprolactone/polyethylene glycol) and polyethylene glycol diacrylate served as raw polymer materials. The internal structure and surface morphology of the resulting scaffolds and the correspondence of their architectonics to the initial 3D virtual models are analyzed by means of optical and scanning electron microscopy.