Feasability study: Development of 3-D patient-tailored bone tissue engineered products combining osteoblasts and scaffold for the repair of massive bone defects - CERACELL

The aim of CERACELL was to assess the feasibility of developing customized bone engineered products combining osteoblasts on 3D patient-tailored bioresorbable microporous bioceramic scaffolds for the reconstruction of bone defects. This high tech tissue engineered product was expected to produce an enhanced environment for the bone regeneration, and the shape of the scaffold was designed to replace the missing bone part as accurately as possible. To achieve this goal, CT-scan images of the bone defects were analyzed by Image Analysis using 3D reconstruction algorithms. A contour approach based upon an atlas shape of normal bone were used to accurately determine the set of image voxels that constitutes the missing volume of bone, giving a 3D bit map of the shape to be printed which were converted to the required formats for the printer. As cells are affected by the physicochemical & structural properties of scaffolds, different combinations of the osteoblasts with different bioceramic scaffolds were tested. SIRRIS was in charge of printing the 3D non-determined shape scaffold pieces not only with different bioceramic contents but also with different porosities using an additive manufacturing process: according to the 3D shape bit map, a UV laser will polymerize photocurable resin filled with the ceramic (layer by layer deposition, then debinding and sintering). Cell adhesion, survival, proliferation & colonization were determined by Bone Therapeutics on printed scaffolds, and their biomechanical properties were tested before and after cell colonization. Based on the results, the selected bioceramic scaffolds (ratios, porosity…) were used by SIRRIS to create the tailored 3D pieces with the programming algorithms generated by Image Analysis. Then, cell colonization and characterization studies were performed in vitro by Bone Therapeutics.

In summary, CERACELL validated the feasibility of manufacturing 3D patient-tailored bone tissue engineered products and studied their bone repair and biocompatibility properties. Bone Therapeutics has expanded its portfolio of bone products, Image Analysis has developed novel techniques for modelling voids in predicted shapes, and SIRRIS has continued to extend its knowledge in ceramic material and in additive manufacturing process for new purposes in bone engineering.

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