Affiliation:
1. Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry University of Pisa UdR INSTM – Pisa, Via G. Moruzzi 13 Pisa 56124 Italy
2. Fabrica Machinale Via Giuntini 13, Cascina Pisa 56021 Italy
Abstract
AbstractThe development of tailored additive manufacturing (AM) approaches is resulting in novel strategies for engineering the macro/microstructural details of potential medical devices made of biocompatible polymers. The aim of this work is the employment of a multifunctional AM machine for fabricating poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) constructs with a predefined shape and porous architecture, by either melt‐ or solution‐extrusion AM. In particular, PMMA porous scaffolds are manufactured by employing fused filament fabrication (FFF) or computer‐aided wet‐spinning (CAWS). The comparative characterization of the two developed PMMA implant prototypes demonstrates significant differences in terms of porous structure, polymer surface topography, material composition, glass transition temperature, and mechanical properties. As a consequence, FFF‐printed PMMA samples support a faster in vitro proliferation of a murine fibroblast cell line in comparison to PMMA scaffolds by CAWS. The results achieved encourage further research on the developed processing protocols, aimed at the development of tailored PMMA implants for personalized surgery applications.
Subject
Materials Chemistry,Organic Chemistry,Polymers and Plastics,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,Condensed Matter Physics