Hydrogel loaded with Bioglass 45S5 for 3D-Printing

BERTUOLA, MARCOS; ARÁOZ, BEATRIZ; PEREZ RECALDE MERCEDES; GILABERT, ULISES; HERMIDA, ÉLIDA BEATRIZ

Parana

Congreso; XIX Brazil MRS Meeting; 2021

SBPMat (Sociedade Brasileira de Pesquisa em Materiais)

Natural hydrogels are widely used for 3D-bioprinting of scaffolds that emulate the extracellular matrix of different human tissues. Furthermore, bioactive glasses added to these hydrogels even at low concentrations enhance their angiogenic properties.In this work, three biocompatible hydrogels with properties suitable for soft tissues, gelatin, alginate, and hyaluronic acid, were blended in concentrations of 4.5% w.v-1 for each component.Rheological properties and printability of Gelatin-Alginate-Hyaluronic acid (GAH) inks with 0 to 8% w.w-1 of 45S5 bioglass (BG) were studied. All inks showed a pseudoplastic behavior. Inks with BG presented lower storage modulus than GAH ink alone. Also the addition of BG reduced the ink viscosity at 37°C (printing temperature): from 1682±129 Pa.s for GAH to 824±4 Pa.s for GAH-BG 8%. Both features might be attributed to the  disruption of the polymer network, produced by the BG particles. Furthermore the printing fidelity ?a parameter set as 1 when the printed device has the same dimensions and shape as the model?decreased as the BG content increased. It was 0.91±0.06 for GAH or 0.90±0.02 for GAH-BG 2% but significantly decreased for BG concentrations above 2%. Regarding temperature changes (from 37ºC in the syringe of the bioprinter to 25ºC at the bioprinter plate) for all inks the storage modulus increased as the temperature decreased; this feature allowed to keep the scaffold structure once the extruded filament was deposited onto the plate.The tensile modulus of the crosslinked scaffolds (after 20 min immersed in 0.5M of CaCl2) increased from 130kPa (GAH) to 160kPa (6 to 8% GAH-BG). Herein, taking into account their tensile modulus and cytocompatibility, the 3D-printed scaffolds studied in this work could be suitable for regeneration of soft tissue such as skin (18-90kPa), muscle (5-170kPa) or bladder (50-100kPa).Acknowledgments: author acknowledge CONICET for financial support.