Selective laser sintering of β-tricalcium phosphate for bionic scaffold

In tissue engineering (TE), temporary bone scaffolds are main to guide cell proliferation and to lead to growing of new bone, β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) is a biodegradable ceramic with potential application for bone replacement. In this study, selective laser sintering (SLS), a rapid prototyping technology (RP), was used to produce β-TCP scaffolds with near-net-shape, fully interconnected channel network, controllable porosity and pore size. In order to fabricate β-TCP scaffolds, several polymeric binders with different weight percentage (wt%) were mixed with β-TCP powder. In the paper, the X-ray diffraction and mechanical properties of the fabricated scaffolds were analysed. Microstructural assessments of the scaffolds were conducted using scanning electron microscope (SEM). SEM showed highly open, well interconnected, uniform pore architecture. Then the porosity and shrinkage of the scaffolds were assessed. The ability of these scaffolds to support bone mesenchymal stem cells culture was investigated in vitro. The results ascertained the potential of SLS-fabricated bone tissue engineering scaffolds.