Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction

The use of alloplastic materials instead of autologous cartilage grafts offers a new perspective in craniofacial reconstructive surgery. Particularly for regenerative approaches, customized implants enable the surgeon to restore the cartilaginous framework of the ear without donor site morbidity. Ho...

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Autores principales:	Constanze Kuhlmann, Jana C. Blum, Thilo L. Schenck, Riccardo E. Giunta, Paul Severin Wiggenhauser
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	ear reconstruction cartilage tissue engineering 3D printing Ultimaker PCL polycaprolactone Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Chemistry QD1-999
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9c16dc0584ad4a03a904296c1cb7cf95
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9c16dc0584ad4a03a904296c1cb7cf952021-11-11T17:07:57ZEvaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction10.3390/ijms2221116671422-00671661-6596https://doaj.org/article/9c16dc0584ad4a03a904296c1cb7cf952021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/21/11667https://doaj.org/toc/1661-6596https://doaj.org/toc/1422-0067The use of alloplastic materials instead of autologous cartilage grafts offers a new perspective in craniofacial reconstructive surgery. Particularly for regenerative approaches, customized implants enable the surgeon to restore the cartilaginous framework of the ear without donor site morbidity. However, high development and production costs of commercially available implants impede clinical translation. For this reason, the usability of a low-cost 3D printer (Ultimaker 2+) as an inhouse-production tool for cheap surgical implants was investigated. The open software architecture of the 3D printer was modified in order to enable printing of biocompatible and biologically degradable polycaprolactone (PCL). Firstly, the printing accuracy and limitations of a PCL implant were compared to reference materials acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA). Then the self-made PCL-scaffold was seeded with adipose-tissue derived stem cells (ASCs), and biocompatibility was compared to a commercially available PCL-scaffold using a cell viability staining (FDA/PI) and a dsDNA quantification assay (PicoGreen). Secondly, porous and solid patient-customized ear constructs were manufactured from mirrored CT-imagining data using a computer-assisted design (CAD) and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM) approach to evaluate printing accuracy and reproducibility. The results show that printing of a porous PCL scaffolds was possible, with an accuracy equivalent to the reference materials at an edge length of 10 mm and a pore size of 0.67 mm. Cell viability, adhesion, and proliferation of the ASCs were equivalent on self-made and the commercially available PCL-scaffolds. Patient-customized ear constructs could be produced well in solid form and with limited accuracy in porous form from all three thermoplastic materials. Printing dimensions and quality of the modified low-cost 3D printer are sufficient for selected tissue engineering applications, and the manufacturing of personalized ear models for surgical simulation at manufacturing costs of EUR 0.04 per cell culture scaffold and EUR 0.90 (0.56) per solid (porous) ear construct made from PCL. Therefore, in-house production of PCL-based tissue engineering scaffolds and surgical implants should be further investigated to facilitate the use of new materials and 3D printing in daily clinical routine.Constanze KuhlmannJana C. BlumThilo L. SchenckRiccardo E. GiuntaPaul Severin WiggenhauserMDPI AGarticleear reconstructioncartilage tissue engineering3D printingUltimakerPCLpolycaprolactoneBiology (General)QH301-705.5ChemistryQD1-999ENInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol 22, Iss 11667, p 11667 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	ear reconstruction cartilage tissue engineering 3D printing Ultimaker PCL polycaprolactone Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Chemistry QD1-999
spellingShingle	ear reconstruction cartilage tissue engineering 3D printing Ultimaker PCL polycaprolactone Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Chemistry QD1-999 Constanze Kuhlmann Jana C. Blum Thilo L. Schenck Riccardo E. Giunta Paul Severin Wiggenhauser Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction
description	The use of alloplastic materials instead of autologous cartilage grafts offers a new perspective in craniofacial reconstructive surgery. Particularly for regenerative approaches, customized implants enable the surgeon to restore the cartilaginous framework of the ear without donor site morbidity. However, high development and production costs of commercially available implants impede clinical translation. For this reason, the usability of a low-cost 3D printer (Ultimaker 2+) as an inhouse-production tool for cheap surgical implants was investigated. The open software architecture of the 3D printer was modified in order to enable printing of biocompatible and biologically degradable polycaprolactone (PCL). Firstly, the printing accuracy and limitations of a PCL implant were compared to reference materials acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA). Then the self-made PCL-scaffold was seeded with adipose-tissue derived stem cells (ASCs), and biocompatibility was compared to a commercially available PCL-scaffold using a cell viability staining (FDA/PI) and a dsDNA quantification assay (PicoGreen). Secondly, porous and solid patient-customized ear constructs were manufactured from mirrored CT-imagining data using a computer-assisted design (CAD) and computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM) approach to evaluate printing accuracy and reproducibility. The results show that printing of a porous PCL scaffolds was possible, with an accuracy equivalent to the reference materials at an edge length of 10 mm and a pore size of 0.67 mm. Cell viability, adhesion, and proliferation of the ASCs were equivalent on self-made and the commercially available PCL-scaffolds. Patient-customized ear constructs could be produced well in solid form and with limited accuracy in porous form from all three thermoplastic materials. Printing dimensions and quality of the modified low-cost 3D printer are sufficient for selected tissue engineering applications, and the manufacturing of personalized ear models for surgical simulation at manufacturing costs of EUR 0.04 per cell culture scaffold and EUR 0.90 (0.56) per solid (porous) ear construct made from PCL. Therefore, in-house production of PCL-based tissue engineering scaffolds and surgical implants should be further investigated to facilitate the use of new materials and 3D printing in daily clinical routine.
format	article
author	Constanze Kuhlmann Jana C. Blum Thilo L. Schenck Riccardo E. Giunta Paul Severin Wiggenhauser
author_facet	Constanze Kuhlmann Jana C. Blum Thilo L. Schenck Riccardo E. Giunta Paul Severin Wiggenhauser
author_sort	Constanze Kuhlmann
title	Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction
title_short	Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction
title_full	Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction
title_fullStr	Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction
title_full_unstemmed	Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction
title_sort	evaluation of the usability of a low-cost 3d printer in a tissue engineering approach for external ear reconstruction
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9c16dc0584ad4a03a904296c1cb7cf95
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Evaluation of the Usability of a Low-Cost 3D Printer in a Tissue Engineering Approach for External Ear Reconstruction

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