The use of both bioglass (BG) and β tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) for bone replacement applications has been studied extensively due to the materials’ high biocompatibility and ability to resorb when implanted in the body. 3D printing has been explored as a fast and versatile technique for the fabrication of porous bone scaffolds. This project investigates the effects of using different combinations of a composite BG and β-TCP powder for 3D printing of porous bone scaffolds. Porous 3D powder printed bone scaffolds of BG, β-TCP, 50/50 BG/β-TCP and 70/30 BG/β-TCP compositions were subject to a variety of characterization and biocompatibility tests. The porosity characteristics, surface roughness, mechanical strength, viability for cell proliferation, material cytotoxicity and in vitro bioactivity were assessed. The results show that the scaffolds can support osteoblast-like MG-63 cells growth both on the surface of and within the scaffold material and do not show alarming cytotoxicity; the porosity and surface characteristics of the scaffolds are appropriate. Of the two tested composite materials, the 70/30 BG/β-TCP scaffold proved to be superior in terms of biocompatibility and mechanical strength. The mechanical strength of the scaffolds makes them unsuitable for load bearing applications. However, they can be useful for other applications such as bone fillers.

The aim of this study was to predefine the pore structure of β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) scaffolds with different macro pore sizes (500, 750, and 1000 µm), to characterize β-TCP scaffolds, and to investigate the growth behavior of cells within these scaffolds. The lead structures for directional bone growth (sacrificial structures) were produced from polylactide (PLA) using the fused deposition modeling techniques. The molds were then filled with β-TCP slurry and sintered at 1250 °C, whereby the lead structures (voids) were burnt out. The scaffolds were mechanically characterized (native and after incubation in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 28 d). In addition, biocompatibility was investigated by live/dead, cell proliferation and lactate dehydrogenase assays. The scaffolds with a strand spacing of 500 µm showed the highest compressive strength, both untreated (3.4 ± 0.2 MPa) and treated with simulated body fluid (2.8 ± 0.2 MPa). The simulated body fluid reduced the stability of the samples to 82% (500), 62% (750) and 56% (1000). The strand spacing and the powder properties of the samples were decisive factors for stability. The fact that β-TCP is a biocompatible material is confirmed by the experiments. No lactate dehydrogenase activity of the cells was measured, which means that no cytotoxicity of the material could be detected. In addition, the proliferation rate of all three sizes increased steadily over the test days until saturation. The cells were largely adhered to or within the scaffolds and did not migrate through the scaffolds to the bottom of the cell culture plate. The cells showed increased growth, not only on the outer surface (e.g., 500: 36 ± 33 vital cells/mm² after three days, 180 ± 33 cells/mm² after seven days, and 308 ± 69 cells/mm² after 10 days), but also on the inner surface of the samples (e.g., 750: 49 ± 17 vital cells/mm² after three days, 200 ± 84 cells/mm² after seven days, and 218 ± 99 living cells/mm² after 10 days). This means that the inverse 3D printing method is very suitable for the presetting of the pore structure and for the ingrowth of the cells. The experiments on which this work is based have shown that the fused deposition modeling process with subsequent slip casting and sintering is well suited for the production of scaffolds for bone replacement.

Bone defects introduced by accidents or diseases are very painful for the patient and their treatment leads to high expenses for the healthcare systems. When a bone defect reaches a critical size, the body is not able to restore this defect by itself. In this case a bone graft is required, either an autologous one taken from the patient or an artificial one made of a bioceramic material such as calcium phosphate. In this study β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) was dispersed in a polymer matrix containing poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(ethylene glycole) (PEG). These compounds were extruded to filaments, which were used for 3D printing of cylindrical scaffolds via Fused Deposition of Ceramics (FDC) technique. After shaping, the printed parts were debindered and sintered. The components combined macro- and micropores with a pore size of 1 mm and 0.01 mm, respectively, which are considered beneficial for bone healing. The compressive strength of sintered cylindrical scaffolds exceeded 72 MPa at an open porosity of 35%. The FDC approach seems promising for manufacturing patient specific bioceramic bone grafts.

Zirconia materials are frequently used in dental applications due to their excellent strength and their tooth-like aspect. Standard yttria stabilized zirconia (Y-TZP) ceramics suffer, however, from moderate toughness and vulnerability to low-temperature degradation. In this study, 1Y6Ce-TZP materials reinforced with different amounts of alumina and/or strontium hexaaluminate were manufactured by slip casting and pressureless sintering at different temperatures to assess their mechanical properties, microstructure, phase composition, and low-temperature degradation stability. Results show that these materials exhibit a high fracture resistance of 10–12 MPa√m, a bending strength between 700–950 MPa, and a Vickers hardness of 1100–1200 HV10. Strontium hexaaluminate (SA6) precipitates were formed in situ by reaction of alumina and strontium zirconate. Although crack deflection at SA6 platelets was clearly visible, a net toughening was not observed. Accelerated ageing tests at 134 °C/3 bar water vapor pressure showed best results for mixed alumina/SA6 reinforcements and a sintering temperature of 1500 °C. Mehl-Avrami-Johnson plots used to describe the ageing kinetics showed clear indications of different ageing mechanisms due to the introduction of the SA6 phase.