Maddi Garcia

Visiting student (Mondragon University, Spain)

Coating of Ti-6Al-4V scaffolds with bioactive hydrogels for bone tissue engineering

 

Supervisors: Lisa Schöbel, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Several studies show that three-dimensional Ti-6Al-4V scaffolds support the regeneration of bone [1]. However, titanium alloys do not always result in the expected osteointegration. Considering that the biological reaction is mainly dictated by the material’s surface, a bioactive hydrogel coating will be investigated in this project to tailor the hard-to-soft transition. This coating will be based on an alginate based hydrogel due to its biocompatibility, capacity to retain water and possibility to mimic the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) [2]. The coatings will be investigated regarding their chemical and mechanical properties as well as their degradation behaviour.

[1]    F. Deng, L. Liu, Z. Li, and J. Liu, “3D printed Ti6Al4V bone scaffolds with different pore structure effects on bone ingrowth,” Journal of Biological Engineering, vol. 15, no. 1, 2021, doi: 10.1186/s13036-021-00255-8.

[2]    S. Reakasame and A. R. Boccaccini, “Oxidized Alginate-Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications : A Review,” vol. 19, no. Biomacromolecules, pp. 3–21, 2018, doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.7b01331.