Biofilm-Antagonist Ginger-Based 3D-Printable Photoresins for Complex Implant Designs Exhibiting Advanced...

Since the discovery of 3D-printing, it has revolutionized personalized drug delivery and implants by enabling intricate, customizable designs. However, key challenges remain, including complex design, host immune response, biofilm formation, and infection-induced inflammation at the implant site. This work offers, first-ever, unique ginger-based 3D-printable resins by chemically modifying Zingerol (Zing-OH, a ginger-based component) into photopolymerizable compositions that can print high-resolution complex designs via DLP 3D-printing. Briefly, the Zing-OH is amended via different functional group backbones, resulting in Zing-OH-based resins (ether, ester, and urethane) and their respective prints. Moreover, the Zing-OH prints' thermal, mechanical, and biodegradation properties can be fine-tuned by simply customizing the backbone. Furthermore, the shape memory efficacy and the human bone (nasal cartilage, vestibular, cortical, femur, etc.) mimicking mechanical properties (exhibiting 2-200 MPa compressive strength) makes them more enticing. In tandem, the prints are also hemocompatible as well as cyto-friendly against human skin (HaCaT) and lung (BEAS-2B) cells, and mouse fibroblast (NIH-3T3) cells. Concurrently, an in vivo biocompatibility study in a rat model indicates that the printed materials are biocompatible, showing no signs of severe inflammatory response over a 28-day period. More importantly, the outstanding anti-biofilm and antioxidant efficacies of the Zing-OH prints make them more appealing due to their potential to prevent implant rejection, thus making them promising tools for bone-tissue engineering (BTE) applications.