3D printing and bioprinting of nanocomposites based on hydrogels and nanoceramics for orthopedic applications: from design to in vivo applications

Anderson de OLiveira Lobo

Universidade Federal do Piauí

Resumo

3D printing and bioprinting technology have emerged as important approaches for bone and cartilage tissue engineering applications, as they enable the printing of scaffolds loaded with various components such as cells, growth factors, or drugs. In this context, bone has a very complex architecture containing highly vascularized and calcified tissues, while cartilage is avascular, has low cellularity, and contains few nutrients. Due to this complexity, the repair and regeneration of these tissues are highly challenging. Identifying appropriate biomaterials and fabrication technologies can provide sustainable solutions to this challenge. This presentation will emphasize the applications of gelatin methacryloyl hydrogels loaded with nanoceramics (nano-hydroxyapatite, nanoclay, graphene, and others) as emerging candidate materials for orthopedic applications, due to their unique properties such as excellent biocompatibility, facile gel formation, shear-thinning behavior (reversible physical crosslinking), high specific surface area, degradation into nontoxic products, and osteoinductive properties. Although hydrogel-nanoceramic-based composites for 3D bioprinting applications are considered soft gels and may not be thought to provide sufficient mechanical strength for orthopedic applications, merging them with suitable composites and incorporating a crosslinking step can achieve the desired mechanical strength. Recent published papers and ongoing projects, considered as recent advances and future perspectives of bioprinting hydrogel-nanoceramic composites for orthopedic applications, will also be presented.