Stereolithography on biodegradable material – the basis for implants

Biodegradable resin will replace damaged organsMembrane by materials Physorg.com
The world's first biodegradable material suitable for use in conjunction with computer stereolithography will allow in the future to create high-quality bioengineered implants ready to replace damaged or failed organs or fragments of human body tissues.

An important achievement at the intersection of sciences was reported by researchers from the University of Twente (Universiteit Twente).

Laser stereolithography is based on the effect of selective polymerization of a material under the action of a computer-controlled beam. This is how various plastic parts and layouts are created – quickly, with high accuracy, with an abundance of very thin elements and without injection molds. However, so far this technology uses compositions that, after solidification, can no longer decompose. The disintegrating material in the body opens up new opportunities for doctors.

For example, if a person's heart valve fails, you can scan it in 3D using a tomograph, and send the resulting digital model to a stereolithography machine — a kind of three-dimensional printer. Only in the new valve should an extensive network of holes and channels of microscopic scale be provided. They can be seeded with a culture from cells taken from the patient himself. And then implant the valve to a person.

The pores in the polymer base will serve as scaffolding for further cell reproduction (nutrients will flow through the channels). Eventually, the polymer will disintegrate, and only natural tissues will remain in place – a new valve, the same as the old one. Similarly, you can restore a damaged bone and so on. This is the kind of application of the new material that researchers from the Netherlands dream of, who recently presented a biodegradable photopolymerizable composition based on polylactides.

(In the pictures – A: a sample of a new material from which a highly porous cube was grown using a laser, next to a match; B-D: the same cube, shot at different magnifications and using different shooting techniques. Scale rulers – 500 micrometers. In picture D, you can see a culture of bone cells.)

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