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Rapid printing of 3D porous scaffolds for breast reconstruction

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Abstract

Prosthesis implantation and fat transplantation are common breast reconstruction methods. In general, prosthesis implantation alone does not achieve a realistic enough appearance, and fat transplantation alone is difficult to achieve in the correct capacity. To date, no reports have focused on methods of combining fat with implanted prostheses for breast reconstruction. Using a newly designed bionic ink (i.e., polyether F127 diacrylate (F127DA) & poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA)) and projection-based three-dimensional bioprinting (PBP), we report the development of a new method for printing porous prostheses. PEGDA was used to improve the printing precision of the prosthesis by increasing the gel point of F127DA and reducing the impact of external temperature. The compression modulus of the printed prosthesis was very close to that of prostheses currently used in clinical practice and to that of natural breasts. Finally, stromal vascular fraction gel (SVF-gel), a human fat extract, was injected into the pores of the synthesized prostheses to prepare a prosthesis mixed with adipose tissue. These were implanted subcutaneously in nude mice to observe their biological performance. After 14 and 28 days of observation, the prosthesis showed good biocompatibility, and adipose tissues grew well in and around the prosthesis. This result shows that a porous prosthesis containing pre-placed adipose tissues is a promising breast reconstruction material.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2018YFA0703000), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. T2121004, 52235007, and 82203602), and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. LQ22H160020 to JW. This work was also supported by Start-up Funding of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital (No. ZRY2021A001 to JW), and Basic Scientific Research Funds of Department of Education of Zhejiang Province (No. KYQN202109 to JW).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechatronics and Vehicle Engineering, East China Jiaotong University, Nanchang, 330013, China

    Pengcheng Zhao, Biling Wang, Jun Hu & Yande Liu

  2. Center for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital (Affiliated People’s Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College), Hangzhou, 310014, China

    Pengcheng Zhao, Lu Wang, Zexin Fu & Ji Wang

  3. Key Laboratory of 3D Printing Process and Equipment of Zhejiang Province, School of Mechanical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Yong He

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  1. Pengcheng Zhao
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Contributions

Conceptualization: YH, PCZ, YDL, and JW. Investigation: PCZ. Some experiments: PCZ, BLW, LW, ZXF, and JH. Writing—original draft: PCZ. Writing & editing: PCZ, BLW, and LW.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Yande Liu, Ji Wang or Yong He.

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Conflict of interest

YH is an associate editor for Bio-Design and Manufacturing and was not involved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

This experiment was conducted in accordance with the Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. Adipose tissue used was the fat discarded in plastic surgery liposuction of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. The study protocol obtained informed consent for exemption and was approved by the Ethics Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China. The approval code number is QT2022382. The approval code number of Animal Ethical and Welfare is IACUC-A20220054.

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Zhao, P., Wang, B., Wang, L. et al. Rapid printing of 3D porous scaffolds for breast reconstruction. Bio-des. Manuf. 6, 691–703 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42242-023-00253-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42242-023-00253-3

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