[Back]

S. Orman, C. Gorsche, C. Hofstetter, S. Baudis, J. Stampfl, R. Liska:
"Biocompatible Photopolymers with Improved Impact Resistance for Additive Manufacturing";
Talk: Bypos Workshop 2017, Zemplínská Sírava, Slovakia; 06-12-2017 - 06-16-2017; in: "Bypos Workshop Book 2017", (2017), 53.

The ability to manufacture biocompatible materials through lithography-based Additive Manufacturing Technologies (AMTs) into custom designed scaffolds holds great potential for biomedical applications. It is therefore necessary to replace state of the art materials like (meth)acrylates, with alternatives that meet the biocompatibility requirements and are suitable considering their mechanical properties. Exhibiting low cytotoxicity, vinyl esters appeared to be a suitable substitute after overcoming drawbacks such as rather low reactivity compared to acrylates and unfavorable mechanical properties. New monomers were synthesized starting from commercially available divinyl adipate (DVA) utilizing lipase-catalyzed transesterification reactions. Through that it was possible to introduce several functional groups like urethanes and cyclic structures. Those modifications resulted in new multifunctional vinyl esters with improved impact resistance, desired degradation behavior and low cytotoxicity1. Furthermore, different multifunctional thiols were used to improve reactivity and regulate the network structure via thiol-ene chemistry. With this toolbox a broad range of properties regarding mechanical as well as degradation behavior is accessible. Preliminary in vivo studies in the femoral bone of rabbits over 12 weeks showed no inflammation reaction and good vascularization. In order to visualize processability, highly porous structures with defined geometry were printed using lithography-based ceramic manufacturing (LCM) - a method based on digital light processing based stereolithography, which is also capable of printing filled systems2. This technology enables us to manufacture precise and highly complex, customized scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. Both patients and surgeons benefit from short production time and the needlessness of explantation surgery.