3D-printed LEGO®-inspired titanium scaffolds for patient-specific regenerative medicine

Despite the recent advances in 3D-printing, it is often difficult to fabricate implants that optimally fit a defect size or shape. There are some approaches to resolve this issue, such as patient-specific implant/scaffold designs based on CT images of the patients, however, this process is labor-intensive and costly. Especially in developing countries, affordable treatment options are required, while still not excluding these patient groups from potential material and manufacturing advances. Here, a selective laser melting (SLM) 3D-printing strategy was used to fabricate a hierarchical, LEGO®-inspired Assemblable Titanium Scaffold (ATS) system, which can be manually assembled in any shape or size with ease. A surgeon can quickly create a scaffold that would fit to the defect right before the implantation during the surgery. Additionally, the direct inclusion of micro- and macroporous structures via 3D-printing, as well as a double acid-etched surface treatment (ST) in the ATS, ensure biocompatibility, sufficient nutrient flow, cell migration and enhanced osteogenesis. Three different structures were designed (non-porous:NP, semi-porous:SP, ultra-porous:UP), 3D-printed with the SLM technique and then surface treated for the ST groups. After analyzing characteristics of the ATS such as printing quality, surface roughness and interconnected porosity, mechanical testing and finite element analysis (FEA) demonstrated that individual and stacked ATS have sufficient mechanical properties to withstand loading in a physiological system. All ATS showed high cell viability, and the SP and UP groups demonstrated enhanced cell proliferation rates compared to the NP group. Furthermore, we also verified that cells were well-attached and spread on the porous structures and successful cell migration between the ATS units was seen in the case of assemblies. The UP and SP groups exhibited higher calcium deposition and RT-qPCR proved higher osteogenic gene expression compared to NP group. Finally, we demonstrate a number of possible medical applications that reveal the potential of the ATS through assembly.