Andrada-Ioana Damian-Buda

Master student

Development and characterization of organic-inorganic hierarchical scaffolds integrating 3D printing and melt electrowriting for wound healing applications

 

Supervisors: Dr.-Ing. Irem Unalan, Marcela Arango Ospina, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Abstract: In recent years, bioactive glasses (BGs) have emerged as novel alternatives for wound care management, owning to the therapeutic effects of the ions released from their structure [1], [2]. However, it is still uncertain whether these effects are primarily due to the individual ions or their synergistic release from the BG structure [3]. Therefore, the first part of this Master thesis aims to evaluate the effects of different ion concentrations, ion combinations and BGs on cellular behaviour. The optimal BG composition will be further incorporated into 3D-printed hydrogel scaffolds designed to closely resemble the natural extracellular matrix. Despite their outstanding biological properties, the mechanical stability of these 3D-printed constructs tends to decrease over time, resulting in inadequate long-term support for tissue growth. To overcome this limitation, BG-containing hydrogel scaffolds can be combined with poly(caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds obtained by melt electrowriting (MEW) [4], [5]. Consequently, the second part of this thesis will focus on developing and characterizing hierarchical BG-containing 3D printed gelatin – PCL MEW scaffolds for wound healing applications.

[1] S. Naseri, W. C. Lepry, and S. N. Nazhat, “Bioactive glasses in wound healing: hope or hype?,” J. Mater. Chem. B, vol. 5, no. 31, pp. 6167–6174, Aug. 2017, doi: 10.1039/C7TB01221G.
[2] U. Pantulap, M. Arango-Ospina, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Bioactive glasses incorporating less-common ions to improve biological and physical properties,” J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Med., vol. 33, no. 1, p. 3, Jan. 2022, doi: 10.1007/s10856-021-06626-3.
[3] S. Kargozar, F. Baino, S. Hamzehlou, R. G. Hill, and M. Mozafari, “Bioactive glasses entering the mainstream,” Drug Discov. Today, vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 1700–1704, Oct. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2018.05.027.
[4] M. T. Ross et al., “Using melt-electrowritten microfibres for tailoring scaffold mechanics of 3D bioprinted chondrocyte-laden constructs,” Bioprinting, vol. 23, p. e00158, Aug. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.bprint.2021.e00158.
[5] I. Unalan, I. Occhipinti, M. Miola, E. Vernè, and A. R. Boccaccini, “Development of Super‐Paramagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle‐Coated Melt Electrowritten Scaffolds for Biomedical Applications,” Macromol. Biosci., Nov. 2023, doi: 10.1002/mabi.202300397.