Radiopaque Material for 3D Printing Scaffolds

Abstract

The so called “Additive manufacturing” is a new manufacturing process which consists in translating virtual solid model data into physical models in a quick and easy process. The most known example is 3D printing. In the present work, this novel technology will be used to print scaffolds with biomaterials. Due to the problems that arise when controlling the clinical course of an implant, graft or polymer inside the human body, an innovative idea has emerged: it consists in incorporating particles of barium sulfate in order to increase the radiopacity of the polylactide (PLLA) and thus making these materials visible to X-rays. Accordingly, BaSO4 loaded PLLA composites were prepared via melt-blending and then injected for further characterization by thermal transitions, mechanical properties, morphology and radiopacity. X-ray analyses confirmed the enhanced radiopacity of the BaSO4 filled composites in comparison to their unfilled counterparts. It is demonstrated that the loads not only contribute to the material's radiopacity, but also dramatically improve its ductility. As an illustration, the incorporation of 10 wt.% of BaSO4 particles resulted in an outstanding 1647% and 3338% increase in toughness and elongation of PLLA matrix, respectively. In view of the good properties of these materials, they will be used for 3D printing. Through this technique it can be molded with any shape in a matter of minutes, making the use of this technology appealing for further innovations.