Selective Laser Sintering of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Using Poly(L-Lactide) Microspheres

Wen You Zhou; S.H. Lee; Min Wang; W.L. Cheung

doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/KEM.334-335.1225

Paper Titles

Synthesis and Characterization of PEG-Modified ZnGd_0.1Fe_1.9O₄ Ferrite Nanoparticles for Interstitial Hyperthermia to Tumor
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Formation of Apatite within Biodegradable Scaffolds by an Accelerated Biomimetic Process in the Shaking Condition and Flow Condition
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Thermophysical and Mechanical Properties of β-Tricalcium Phosphate Reinforced Polyhydroxybutyrate and Polyhydroxybutyrate-Co-Hydroxyvalerate Composites
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Fabrication and Characterization of Composite Microspheres Containing Carbonated Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles
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Selective Laser Sintering of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Using Poly(L-Lactide) Microspheres
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Fabrication and Characterisation of Polymer and Composite Scaffolds Based on Polyhydroxybutyrate and Polyhydroxybutyrate-Co-Hydroxyvalerate
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Effects of Processing Parameters on the Morphology and Size of Electrospun PHBV Micro- and Nano-Fibers
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Hydroxyapatite Nano-Particles Coating on the Pore Surface Within Poly(DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) Scaffold
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Modelling of Extrusion Behaviour of Biopolymer and Composites in Fused Deposition Modelling
p.1241

HomeKey Engineering MaterialsKey Engineering Materials Vols. 334-335Selective Laser Sintering of Tissue Engineering...

Selective Laser Sintering of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Using Poly(L-Lactide) Microspheres

Abstract:

This paper reports a study on the modification of a commercial selective laser sintering (SLS) machine for the fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds from small quantities of poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) microspheres. A miniature build platform was designed, fabricated and installed in the build cylinder of a Sinterstation 2000 system. Porous scaffolds in the form of rectangular prism, 12.7×12.7×25.4 mm3, with interconnected square and round channels were designed using SolidWorks. For initial trials, DuraFormTM polyamide powder was used to build scaffolds with a designed porosity of ~70%. The actual porosity was found to be ~83%, which indicated that the sintered regions were not fully dense. PLLA microspheres in the size range of 5-30 μm were made using an oil-in-water emulsion solvent evaporation procedure and they were suitable for the SLS process. A porous scaffold was sintered from the PLLA microspheres with a laser power of 15W and a part bed temperature of 60oC. SEM examination showed that the PLLA microspheres were partially melted to form the scaffold. This study has demonstrated that it is feasible to build tissue engineering scaffolds from small amounts of biomaterials using a commercial SLS machine with suitable modifications.