Effect of pressure and infill density parameter setting on morphological and mechanical properties of polycaprolactone printed scaffold using desktop 3D bioprinter

Three dimensional (3D) bioprinting is the process of building a 3D construct containing biological cells. There are varies set of printing parameter involved in 3D bioprinting system that will affect the structure and the mechanical properties of the bioprinted construct. This study was done to investigated the effect of extrusion pressure and infill density on the polycaprolactone (PCL) 3D printed construct's morphology, printing accuracy and compressive strength. Based on morphological evaluations using scanning electron microscope, the printed scaffold was suggested to be at the best condition at pressure 60psi using 80% infill setting. Besides, the mechanical testing revealed the printed scaffold was successfully fabricated without losing its mechanical integrity. This is a good indication for PCL as structural host material to obtain functionalized 3D scaffold using bioprinting method.