3D bio-printing for use as bone replacement tissues: A review of biomedical application

Abstract

Since we are able to use 3D printers, producing porous metal scaffolds become very easy. Contrary to usual methods, 3D printing of porous scaffolds is determined by a controllable and precise manufacturing process. That property allows us to form customized prefabricated implants for individual patients and make a regular pore distribution at the micro-scale as same as the structure of a bone, design of a structure like bone is very complicated because the pores of that structure must have enough space for cell attachment and proliferation. The reaction of cells and bone ingrowth can influence the effect of 3D printed porous metal scaffolds on bone ingrowth. This review introduces 3D printing techniques brief and focuses on the factors that potentially influence bone ingrowth into 3D printed porous metal scaffolds like materials, pore size, porosity, pore structure, surface modification, and mechanical properties. In each section, we described the mechanisms underlying cell-scaffold interactions in detail also there is a short introduction of clinical application of 3D printing. After all, there is a list that shows the most appropriate parameters for a flawless porous metal scaffold, and it is lead to finding a combination of these parameters that foretaste good bone ingrowth.

Keywords

• Bone implants
• Metal scaffolds
• Mechanical properties
• Porous metal
• Manufacturing process
• Cell-scaffold