Changchun Zhou, PhD
Associate professor
Engineering Research Center in Biomaterials, Sichuan University
Tele: 024-85415123
Email: changchunzhou@scu.edu.cn
Biography:
Changchun Zhou received a PhD degree from Sichuan University in 2011, From 2008 to 2010, he was a joint PhD student at the university of Washington and the University of Texas at Austin. He joined the National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University in 2011. He is now an associate professor of Sichuan University and master's tutor in Biomedical Engineering. He is a member of China society of biological materials, member of the first China medical and biological technology association 3D printing technology branch (2016-), member of the second session of biological manufacturing engineering branch of China mechanical engineering society (2017-). His research interests cover biological materials and artificial organs; Biological 3D printing manufacturing; Bionic design and mechanical simulation of biomaterials. Has involved in the EU "Horizon" 2020 program, ministry of science and technology support "five-year plan", the ministry of science and technology research (National key R&D special projects of the ministry of science and technology 2018 YFB1105602), National natural funds of China, and many other national/ministry projects. He has published more than 30 scientific papers, participated in writing 3 academic books. He has applied 17 national patents, among of which 7 patents have been authorized.
Abstract:
3DP of bioceramics with accurate hierarchical porosity for bone tissue repair
Hierarchical porosity, which includes micropores and macropores in scaffolds, contributes to important multiple biological functions for tissue regeneration. However, most of these conventional methods are difficult to control the scaffolds' pore arrangements and dimensions. 3D printing technique with a super ability to fabricate 3D complicated architecture with customized pores. It could produce highly complicated implants with personal-customized architectures for different patients in accordance with their CT data. Concerning the biological function importance of hierarchical macro-/micro-porosity, this study seeks to construct hierarchical porous HA bone tissue engineering scaffolds with rigid porous structures using 3DP[1].
HA with nano-sized crystals of 30–50 nm with lengths of 50–100 nm were modulated by polyvinyl alcohol, cellulose, and pure water to form the printing “ink”. The first-level macropores of HA scaffolds were designed by CAD molding with considering of 20% linear shrinkage, and fabricated by the 3DP technique. The second-level micropores of scaffolds were obtained by the freeze and sintering process.
Fig. 1 showed the hierarchical microstructure of 3DP bioceramics. The scaffolds showed highly open, well-interconnected, and uniform pores. The pore units of the scaffolds are cubic pores with side lengths of 300, 425, and 550 μm. An ideal scaffold for bone tissue engineering should have accuracy porosity to provide different biophysical and biochemical effects. The bioceramics with precise porosity showed obvious osteoinductivity in the animal experiments. This research may provide a versatile way to modulate biological function of biomaterials through optimized design and fabrication of scaffolds.
Figure 1. SEM images of the printed CaP scaffolds with hierarchical porous architectures and porosity. (a) is the scaffolds with macro pore sizes of 300μm and (b) is the scaffolds with micro pores, respectively.