A 3D-printed Sn-doped calcium phosphate scaffold for bone tissue engineering

Recent developments in 3D printing technology have been applied in the field of tissue engineering to fabricate customized bone repair scaffolds. β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) is a bioceramic material with excellent potential as a scaffold foundation. Doping metallic ions with β-TCP will significantly enhance the mechanical property and bone regeneration performance compared with pure β-TCP specimens. In this study, we proposed a protocol for the fabrication of a Sn-doped β-TCP (Sn@TCP) scaffold using 3D printing technology, and the effect of Sn-doping on the physicochemical properties of the material and its in vitro bioactivity were investigated. Polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol were used as binder to construct Sn@TCP scaffolds which have good biocompability and can break down into H 2 O and CO 2 after scaffolds sintering. The appearance of the scaffold constructed by 3D printing technology closely matched the computer design. The incorporation of Sn into β-TCP improved the compressive strength of the scaffold. Moreover, the Sn@TCP scaffold retained the inherently good biocompatibility of β-TCP and exhibited better osteoinduction capability than pure β-TCP scaffolds. Notably, the osteoinduction ability of Sn@TCP scaffolds were dependent on the Sn content. In conclusion, the 3D printing of Sn@TCP scaffolds with enhanced mechanical properties and osteoblast-inducing activity show great promise as scaffold materials in bone tissue engineering applications.