Development of graphene containing 3D printed scaffolds for orthopaedic applications

全世界有数以百万计的人因受伤、感染、疾病或骨骼发育异常而遭受骨丢失的巨大需求，这种替代骨可以无缝地结合到身体中。合成材料可以在微观和宏观尺度上模拟骨结构作为替代骨移植替代品，消除供体部位发病率和感染的风险，同时很容易获得。基质的内在特性，如化学、纳米形貌和机械特性，可以诱导成体干细胞向特定的谱系分化。为了实现骨细胞的生长，需要模拟骨组织微环境的硬质三维多孔支架，而传统的冻干、盐析等方法是无法实现这一点的。3D打印(添加制造)，由于根据计算机辅助设计均匀地沉积材料，可以无缝地控制大小、密度和孔的互连性，从而产生患者定制的建筑。

There is a huge unmet need for millions of people worldwide who suffer bone loss due to injury, infection, disease, or abnormal skeletal development for substitute bone that can seamlessly incorporate itself into the body.Synthetic materials that can mimic the bone architecture at the micro and macro-scale as alternative bone graft substitutes eliminate risks of donor site morbidity and infection, while being readily available. Substrate intrinsic characteristics such as chemistry, nanotopography and mechanical properties can induce adult stem cell differentiation towards specific lineages. For bone cell growth, vascularization and extracellular matrix deposition stiff 3D porous scaffolds that mimic the bone tissue microenvironment are needed, which traditional methods such as freeze-drying and salt-leaching cannot produce. 3D printing (additive manufacturing), due to a uniform deposition of material according to a computer aided design, can seamlessly control size, density and pore interconnectivity therefore produce patient tailored architectures.