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A Ti/β-TCP composite porous scaffold with a hierarchical pore structure composed of 3D printed interconnected macroscopic pores and sintered microscopic pores was prepared by direct ink writing (DIW) 3D printing technology. This method can control the extrusion of composite ink at room temperature and produce a 3D scaffold using layer-by-layer deposition. We studied the effects of the β-TCP powder particle size, β-TCP/Ti powder ratio and solid loading on the rheological properties of the ink and optimised the DIW printing process parameters. After sintering, the compressive strength and elastic modulus of the composite scaffold reached 45 MPa and 1 GPa, which is close to the strength of human cancellous bone. The cell culture experiment confirmed that the composite scaffold had better biological properties than the pure titanium scaffold. The composite scaffold has satisfactory mechanical and biological properties, meeting the requirements for orthopaedic implants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A porous chitosan-gelatin scaffold with specific geometry and complex internal microarchitectures was fabricated via a novel indirect rapid prototyping technique. A stereolithography (SL) technique was employed to build the resin mold, based on which a high-resolution poly-dimethylsilicone (PDMS) mold was microreplicated. The chitosan-gelatin hybrid solution was cast on the PDMS mold for pre-freezing and the monolayer scaffold with predefined features and highly porous structures was produced upon lyophilization. These monolayer structures along with the special interface layers can be stacked together to form a three-dimensional (3D) scaffold. The morphologies of the predefined features maintain well during the assembly process. Hepatocyte culture experiment indicates that the novel microstructured chitosan-gelatin porous scaffold could facilitate cells to migrate and proliferate into the deep layers of the scaffold in comparison with the traditional porous only scaffold. This approach provides a new way to fabricate a complex 3D scaffold using various natural biomaterials for vital organ engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]