Florian Dippold

Master student

Additively manufactured bioactive glass scaffolds: Investigation of processing parameters, mechanical performance and cell biology response

 

Supervisors: Dr. techn. Malte Hartmann, Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Aldo R. Boccaccini

Bioactive glasses are characterized by high bioactivity and biodegradability and exhibit strong bonding to bone. They can be used for bone tissue engineering. One of the most used bioactive glasses is Bioglass 45S5 [1]. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a convenient approach to produce scaffolds with a defined structure and porosity [2]. The aim of this thesis is to develop and characterise a series of silicate based bioctive glasses for the production of scaffolds by AM methods. Such scaffolds must withstand high mechanical loads with the goal of enabling load bearing applications. The focus of the thesis lies on the investigation of the processing parameters and the characterisation of the produced scaffolds.

[1] Hench LL, The story of Bioglass. J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2006;17(11):967-78.

[2] Tesavibul P, et al., Processing of 45S5 Bioglass® by lithography-based additive manufacturing, Mater. Lett. 2012; 74: 81-84.