BIOMIMETIC 3D PRINTING OF HIERARCHICAL AND INTERCONNECTED POROUS HYDROXYAPATITE BONE STRUCTURE

摘要

Methods and apparatus are described herein for the production of porous hydroxyapatite tissue scaffold structures. The structures can be formed by a combination extrusion and cast freezing additive manufacture method, similar to a 3D printing process, using a pseudoplastic hydroxyapatite material as the print medium. The resulting structures exhibit hierarchical and interconnected porous structures, which are particularly suitable for bone cell culture.