3D-Printed Precision Porous Scaffolds Promote Healing In Vivo.

Abstract

Precision porous scaffolds hold promise for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their ability to support cell ingrowth and vascularization and mitigate the foreign body reaction (FBR). In previous work, we demonstrated that vat photopolymerization 3D printing enables the fabrication of porous scaffolds with 40 μm interconnected cubical pores. This study aims to do a preliminary evaluation of cellular responses and the FBR to 3D-printed scaffolds with 40 μm cubical pores, in comparison with template-fabricated spherical pores (optimized for healing) and non-porous slabs (negative control). The results indicate that porous scaffolds, regardless of pore geometry, outperform non-porous structures in mitigating the FBR, promoting tissue regeneration, and triggering vascularization. This is the first paper demonstrating the pro-healing property of high-resolution 3D-printed 40 μm cubical pore scaffolds. These findings underscore the potential of 3D-printed porous scaffolds to advance patient-specific therapies, support soft (such as brain and blood vessel) and hard tissue (such as bone) repair, and improve healing outcomes in regenerative medicine applications.