Mechanical properties and osteointegration of the mesh structure of a lumbar fusion cage made by 3D printing

. 2023 Mar 7;141:105762.


doi: 10.1016/j.jmbbm.2023.105762.


Online ahead of print.

Affiliations

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Małgorzata Żak et al.


J Mech Behav Biomed Mater.


.

Abstract

The currently popular 3D printing makes it possible to produce spatial scaffolds, the main purpose of which is to obtain implants that have favourable mechanical properties to promote cell adhesion. This study aims to prove the influence of changes in selected geometrical parameters of scaffolds, used in intervertebral cages, on the mechanical properties obtained and thus on the osteointegration of the studied constructs with osteoblasts and fibroblasts. The stiffness values and maximum failure force of four modifications to geometric dimensions of the meshes were determined from the intendation test. Adhesion assays were conducted (including gentle pendulum motion) for Balb/3T3 fibroblasts and NHOst osteoblasts. The study revealed that an important geometrical parameter affecting the strength of the mesh is the height (h) of the connection point between arms of successive mesh cells. There was no significant effect of the mesh geometry on the abundance and survival of Balb/3T3 and NHOst cells. At the same time, fibroblasts were more likely to form colonies in the area where there is fusion of mesh cells, as opposed to osteoblasts that were more numerous at vertices of the mesh.


Keywords:

3D printed; Fusion cage; Mechanical properties; Osteointegration.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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