An innovative three-dimensional printed titanium implant with a biomimetic structure design for promoting osseointegration potential

Abstract

The present study aimed to investigate the surface characteristic, biocompatibility, and bone regeneration behavior of an innovative three-dimensional (3D) printed titanium (Ti) implant with a biomimetic cancellous bone-like spherical particle porous structure (3DBCP-Ti) through scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry, static contact angle goniometry, cytotoxicity assay, and rabbit model. The analytical results showed that the 3DBCP-Ti implant with an average pore size of 400 ± 10.5 μm can be fabricated using a selective laser sintering method. The 3DBCP-Ti implant not only possessed excellent wettability (13.5 ± 1.7°) but also presented superior cell viability (97 ± 1.5 %) in vitro. After implantation for 4 weeks, the bone mineral density of the 3DBCP-Ti implant (0.14 ± 0.02 mg/cm3) exhibited a slightly higher value than the control implant (0.13 ± 0.03 mg/cm3). Moreover, histological results also indicated that the new bone formation area of the 3DBCP-Ti implant (43.9 ± 7.0 %, *p < 0 0.05) significantly enhanced as compared with the control (23.5 ± 4.6 %) and blank (18.2 ± 1.4 %) groups at week 12 post-implantation. Accordingly, these findings demonstrate that the innovative 3DBCP-Ti implant has the potential to promote osseointegration at early-stage implantation for dental, orthopedic, and neurosurgical applications.

Keywords

• Selective laser 3D printing
• Cancellous bone-like porous implant
• Surface characteristic
• Biocompatibility
• Osseointegration