Three-dimensionally printed tissue engineering scaffolds for tissue regeneration
AssigneeNanochon, LLC
InventorsNathan Jonathan Castro, Benjamin Blair Holmes
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to a three-dimensionally (3D) printed tissue engineering scaffold for tissue regeneration and a method for manufacturing the 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold. The 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold may be fabricated at least in part from a composite material having an insoluble component and soluble component. The three-dimensional tissue scaffolds of the disclosure may be fabricated via a rapid prototyping machine. In some instances, the three-dimensional shape of the fabricated tissue engineering scaffold may correspond to a three-dimensional shape of a tissue defect of a patient.
Claims18
A three-dimensional tissue scaffold comprising:
- (a) a first region comprising two or more layers of a first material and having a plurality of first pores, each having a first average pore width;
- and
- (b) a second region comprising two or more layers of a second material and having a plurality of second pores, each having a second average pore width,
- wherein a surface of the two or more layers of the first material, a surface of the two or more layers of the second material, or both, comprise a plurality of pits having an average width that is below the resolution of a rapid prototyping technology,
- wherein at least one of the first material and the second material is an insoluble component that remains after a soluble component of a composite material comprising the insoluble component and the soluble component is dissolved by a solvent, and
- wherein the plurality of pits on the surface of the two or more layers of the first material, the plurality of pits on the surface of the two or more layers of the second material, or both, correspond to an absence of the soluble component.
A method of manufacturing a three-dimensional tissue scaffold, wherein the three-dimensional tissue scaffold comprises:
- a first region comprising two or more layers of a first material and having a plurality of first pores, each having a first average pore width;
- and
- a second region comprising two or more layers of a second material and having a plurality of second pores, each having a second average pore width;
- wherein a surface of the two or more layers of the first material, a surface of the two or more layers of the second material, or both, comprise a plurality of pits having an average width that is below the resolution of a rapid prototyping technology,
- the method comprising:
- (a) fabricating the first region by printing two or more layers of the first material comprising the plurality of first pores;
- (b) fabricating the second region by printing two or more layers of the second material comprising the plurality of second pores,
- wherein at least one of the first material and the second material comprises a composite material having an insoluble component and a soluble component;
- and
- (c) dissolving the soluble component from the composite material, thereby manufacturing the three-dimensional tissue scaffold,
- wherein, after the dissolving of (c), the three-dimensional tissue scaffold comprises a plurality of pits along a surface of the insoluble component, wherein the plurality of pits comprise an average width that is below the resolution of a rapid prototyping technology.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.