Nano-Hydroxyapatite Bone Scaffolds with Different Porous Structures Processed by Digital Light Processing 3D Printing

Abstract

The morphologies and structures of the scaffold have a significant influence on their mechanical and biological properties. In this work, different types of porous structures: Triply periodic minimal surface-Schwarz primitive (P), body centered cubic, and cubic pore-shaped (CPS) hydroxyapatite scaffolds with ~70% porosity were fabricated through digital light processing (DLP) 3D printing technology. The compressive properties and in vitro cell evaluations such as cell proliferation and attachment morphology of these scaffolds were systematically compared. The results showed that the CPS scaffolds exhibited the highest compressive strength (~22.5 MPa) and modulus (~400 MPa). In addition, the CPS scaffolds also performed the most active cell metabolisms as compared to other two structures, which may account for the larger pore size and smaller curvature of the substrate. This study provides a general guidance for the fabrication and selection of porous bone scaffolds processed by DLP 3D printing.