3D printed bioactive glasses porous scaffolds with high strength for the repair of long-bone segmental defects

作者：Liao, Muheng; Zhu, Shuangli; Guo, Anjie; Han, Xiyuan; Li, Qingtao; Chen, Yi; Liu, Yuwei; Chen, Dafu; Chen, Xiaofeng; Mo, Shuixue^*; Cao, Xiaodong^*

来源：Composites Part B: Engineering , 2023, 254: 110582.

DOI：10.1016/j.compositesb.2023.110582

• Bioactive glasses
• Ratios of copper and magnesium
• 3D printing
• High strength
• Osteogenesis and angiogenesis
• Bone repair
• Long bone segmental defects (LBSD)

The clinical treatment of long bone segmental defects (LBSD) remains a challenge worldwide due to the deficiency of bone transplantation donors. Developing bone tissue engineering scaffolds similar to cortical in strength and biological activity is a feasible solution. In this work, bioactive glasses with different ratios of copper and magnesium (Cu/MgBGs) were fabricated, and then processed by 3D printing and sintered at 700 degrees C to obtain porous BGs scaffolds with high strength and no crystallization. The compressive strength of Cu/MgBGs scaffolds with a high porosity (50.99 +/- 1.2%) reached 109.27 +/- 8.18 MPa, which matched the strength of cortical bone (90-150 MPa). The mineralization experiments confirmed that the scaffolds had good bioactivity before and after sintering. In vitro experiments showed that different ratios of Cu/Mg in BGs had a decisive role in osteogenesis and angiogenesis. Cu0.5/Mg7.5 group had an optimal osteogenic performance while Cu1.0/Mg7.0 group was best for angiogenesis. Also, the antibacterial experiment illustrated that the scaffolds had a good bacterial killing rate of above 95.29 +/- 1.02%, which could effectively avoid the infection and broadened the application scenario of the scaffolds. In vivo animal experiments revealed that Cu0.5/Mg7.5 scaffold group had the best bone repair effect on rabbit radius segmental defect with the highest volume and quality of new bone formation. Therefore, Cu0.5/Mg7.5 BGs scaffolds provided an alternative option for the treatment of LBSD.