Assessment of the Influence of Antisolvent 3D Printing Conditions on the Mechanical and Biological Properties of Poly(lactic-co-glycolic) Acid Scaffolds.

Abstract

This paper describes an evaluation of the mechanical and biological properties of highly porous, biocompatible poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds produced using the antisolvent 3D printing technique under various forming conditions. The dependence of the scaffolds' microstructure, PLGA molecular weight distribution, and cell adhesion properties on temperature and injection nozzle diameter was evaluated. All samples consisted of fibers with different inner polymer distributions formed by specific radial, highly porous structures with a mean pore length of less than 50 μm and a diameter below 10 μm. The microstructure formed using a nozzle with a diameter of 160 μm showed a moderate correlation with printing temperature, while for the 330 μm nozzle, there was no significant difference in microstructures formed at different temperatures. Scaffolds produced at lower temperatures of 4 °C with a thin nozzle showed better compression load characteristics in terms of strength. In contrast, a larger nozzle allowed the production of a PLGA structure with improved elasticity. A 10-17% change in the molecular weight of PLGA was observed during printing, but no influence on biological properties was found. All types of PLGA scaffolds tested demonstrated good biocompatibility and promoted cell adhesion compared to the control.