ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine
Resonant Acoustic Mixing-Assisted Fabrication and Evaluation of FDM-Printed PLA/β-TCP Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering
Provisionally accepted
- 1Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- 2Beijing Stomatological Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China
- 3Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, China
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Background: Composite scaffolds combining polylactic acid (PLA) with β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) offer potential for bone tissue engineering (BTE) by integrating mechanical support with bioactivity. However, the optimal ratio balancing biological performance, structural integrity, and manufacturing feasibility remains unclear. Methods: PLA/β-TCP composites containing 0%, 10%, 20%, and 30% β-TCP were prepared using solvent-free resonant acoustic mixing (RAM), extruded into filaments, and printed by fused deposition modeling (FDM). Scaffolds were evaluated for mechanical properties, printability, and in vitro biocompatibility with rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSCs). Osteogenic differentiation was assessed by ALP activity, calcium deposition, and expression of osteogenic marker. In vivo bone regeneration was investigated in a rat calvarial defect model. Results: All β-TCP-containing scaffolds enhanced cell adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenesis compared with pure PLA. The 80:20 PLA/β-TCP scaffold showed optimal balance of bioactivity, compressive strength, and printing quality. Excessive β-TCP (>20%) reduced mechanical strength and caused printing defects. In vivo, the 80:20 group showed superior early bone regeneration after 4 weeks, confirmed by micro-CT and histology. Conclusions: The 80:20 PLA/β-TCP composition offers an optimal balance of biological activity, mechanical performance, and manufacturing scalability, supporting its potential as a cost-effective scaffold for clinical BTE applications.
Keywords: keyword1, keyword2, keyword3, keyword4, keyword5
Received: 23 Aug 2025; Accepted: 13 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, HU, luo, Deng, Xie, Huang, Yuan and Jiang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yafei Yuan, lit2fei@163.com
QingSong Jiang, qsjiang@ccmu.edu.cn
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.