Peixi Peng

Master student

3D extrusion printing of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) based biomaterial ink

 

Supervisors: Prof. Bikramjit Basu, Ms Memoona Akhtar, Prof. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Significant attempts were directed to treat patient-specific functional defects, for personalized treatment of human diseases. Additive manufacturing techniques are uniquely suited for low volume production of complex structured scaffolds or implants. Built on recent research programs at the collaborative partner at IISc, Bangalore, India (Prof. Basu),  this project proposes to develop mechanically reliable 3D scaffolds with a designed architecture having shape fidelity, based on novel biodegradable (lower concentration) gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)/ Polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) based bioink together with tailored addition of inorganic fillers, using 3D printing technology, for bone applications. During the project, the 3D printing parameters together with curing conditions will be optimized to develop different designed structures without shape distortion and structural stability over time. The compression properties will be evaluated and will be compared with the natural bone properties. The critical addition of bioactive glasses to enhance mechanical and biophysical properties (swelling, enzymatic degradation), without compromising the printability will be identified. While the microstructure-mechanical property correlation will be established, significant efforts will be invested to make quantitative analysis of the swelling and degradation properties using established models.