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- A comparison of 3D poly(ε-caprolactone) tissue engineering scaffolds produced with conventional and additive manufacturing techniques by means of quantitative analysis of SR μ-CT imagesPublication . Brun, F; Intranuovo, F; Mohammadi, S; Domingos, M.; Favia, P; Tromba, GThe technique used to produce a 3D tissue engineering (TE) scaffold is of fundamental importance in order to guarantee its proper morphological characteristics. An accurate assessment of the resulting structural properties is therefore crucial in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the produced scaffold. Synchrotron radiation (SR) computed microtomography (μ-CT) combined with further image analysis seems to be one of the most effective techniques to this aim. However, a quantitative assessment of the morphological parameters directly from the reconstructed images is a non trivial task. This study considers two different poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds fabricated with a conventional technique (Solvent Casting Particulate Leaching, SCPL) and an additive manufacturing (AM) technique (BioCell Printing), respectively. With the first technique it is possible to produce scaffolds with random, non-regular, rounded pore geometry. The AM technique instead is able to produce scaffolds with square-shaped interconnected pores of regular dimension. Therefore, the final morphology of the AM scaffolds can be predicted and the resulting model can be used for the validation of the applied imaging and image analysis protocols. It is here reported a SR μ-CT image analysis approach that is able to effectively and accurately reveal the differences in the pore- and throat-size distributions as well as connectivity of both AM and SCPL scaffolds.
- EditorialPublication . Bártolo, Paulo; Chua, C.K.Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies play a key role in the advancement of biomedical applications. In this issue, we share with the readers the roles of AM technologies in two applications for biomedical engineering, namely scaffolds for tissue engineering and a composite model for club foot.
- Additive manufacturing techniques for scaffold-based cartilage tissue engineeringPublication . Caseiro, Ana Rita; Almeida, Henrique A.; Bártolo, Paulo J.Articular cartilage damage is of great concern as it creates chronic pain and reduction of joint movement, leading to osteoarthritis. In current treatments, the resulting healing tissues lack structural organisation of cartilage and consequently have inferior mechanical properties when compared to native cartilage, therefore being prone to failure. Tissue engineering has long worked on cartilage regeneration and several requirements have been identified for the engineered structures to meet the desired function, by combining biodegradable and biocompatible materials, cells and growth factors, aiming at the production of biological structures closely resembling the native tissue.Within the scaffold based techniques for cartilage tissue production, conventional methods have shown limitations, especially regarding the control over the microstructure and repeatability of the produced constructs. Therefore, additive manufacturing techniques grew popular, allowing for a high level of control over the internal scaffold architecture and external shape of the construct, as well as guaranteeing its reproducibility.
- Effect of saline environment on mechanical properties of adhesive jointsPublication . Pereira, A. M.; Reis, P.N.B.; Ferreira, J.A.M.; Antunes, F.V.Literature reports very few works about the effect of corrosive environments on the mechanical properties of adhesive joints. Therefore, the present study intends to contribute for a better understanding of the effect of saline solution on the mechanical properties of single-lap adhesive joints. The specimens were manufactured using Docol 1000 high strength steel plates with 1 mm of thickness and Araldite® 420 A/B epoxy adhesive. The static shear strength of the joints was influenced by the exposure time in saline solutions only up to 120 h, and remained, after this period, nearly constant. In terms of fatigue strength, for 105 cycles, a decrease about 25% and 39% occurred in specimens immersed during 120 h in deionised water and saline solution, respectively, comparatively to the control samples.
- Optimization of Thermoplastic Pre-Pregs OvermouldingPublication . Carreira, Pedro; Alves, Nuno; Carina Ramos; Bártolo, Paulo J.The search for new technological concepts in the field of injection of thermoplastic polymers, in order to optimize the process and reduce cycle time, faced us with a new concept in moulding, where two different technologies are proposed to be unified. The fabric impregnated with thermoplastic is an example of a quite new product that combines the potential of polymers with long reinforcing fibres. In order to process this new product, injection of polymers and thermoforming will be applied in only one operation. To allow cycle time prediction for this new technique, changes will be made in the formulation of conventional injection cycle time, in order to comprise the new necessary stages. In this work a new approach is proposed to obtain moulded parts of thermoplastic polymers with functional fabric only in a single processing cycle. The description of the new stages and its mathematical formulation is made, in function of the time needed to complete each one. The results presented come from processing parameters optimization using the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm.
- Improving the process of making rapid prototyping models from medical ultrasound imagesPublication . Vaezi, Mohammad; Chua, Chee Kai; Chou, Siaw MengPurpose – Today, medical models can be made by the use of medical imaging systems through modern image processing methods and rapid prototyping (RP) technology. In ultrasound imaging systems, as images are not layered and are of lower quality as compared to those of computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the process for making physical models requires a series of intermediate processes and it is a challenge to fabricate a model using ultrasound images due to the inherent limitations of the ultrasound imaging process. The purpose of this paper is to make high quality, physical models from medical ultrasound images by combining modern image processing methods and RP technology. Design/methodology/approach – A novel and effective semi-automatic method was developed to improve the quality of 2D image segmentation process. In this new method, a partial histogram of 2D images was used and ideal boundaries were obtained. A 3D model was achieved using the exact boundaries and then the 3D model was converted into the stereolithography (STL) format, suitable for RP fabrication. As a case study, the foetus was chosen for this application since ultrasonic imaging is commonly used for foetus imaging so as not to harm the baby. Finally, the 3D Printing (3DP) and PolyJet processes, two types of RP technique, were used to fabricate the 3D physical models. Findings – The physical models made in this way proved to have sufficient quality and shortened the process time considerably. Originality/value – It is still a challenge to fabricate an exact physical model using ultrasound images. Current commercial histogram-based segmentation method is time-consuming and results in a less than optimum 3D model quality. In this research work, a novel and effective semi-automatic method was developed to select the threshold optimum value easily.
- Structure–property relationships in polyethylene based films obtained by blow molding as model system of industrial relevancePublication . Duraccio, Donatella; Mauriello, Amalia; Cimmino, Sossio; Silvestre, Clara; Auriemma, Finizia; Rosa, Claudio de; Pirozzi, Beniamino; Mitchell, Geoffrey RobertA method for the study of structure-property relationships of polyethylene (PE)-based films of potential use in food packaging has been set up. The approach has been demonstrated in the case of films obtained by blow-molding using model mixtures of two different polyethylenes, namely a metallocene-made grade of linear low density polyethylene (mLLDPE) and a low density polyethylene (LDPE). We show that physical properties important for numerous applications of these films, such as water vapor and oxygen permeability, toughness and stress strength, are related to the molecular structure and structural and morphological parameters of the blends, in particular, thickness of amorphous layers in lamellar stacks, lamellar thickness, lamellar twisting, and degree and type of branching.
- Obtención de andamios biodegradables mediante bioextrusiónPublication . Loaiza, Marielys C.; Sabino, Marcos A.; Bártolo, Paulo Jorge; Domingos, Marco; Müller, Alejandro J.En esta investigación se obtuvieron andamios biodegradables de mezclas de poli-(ácido láctico)/poli-(ε-caprolactona) (PLA/PCL) obtenidas en solución, cuyas proporciones en peso/peso (p/p) fueron 100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 0/100, mediante la técnica de biofabricación conocida como bioextrusión. Todas las mezclas fueron caracterizadas por Espectroscopía Infrarroja por Transformada de Fourier (FT-IR) y Calorimetría Diferencial de Barrido (DSC), observándose la variación en la morfología y la cristalinidad cuando el material se encontraba orientado (andamios) y sin orientar (mezclas iniciales). Mediante Microscopía Electrónica de Barrido (MEB) se observó la distribución de orientación, porosidad e interconectividad, características de un andamio biodegradable.
- Strain sequence effect on fatigue life and fracture surface topography of 7075-T651 aluminium alloyPublication . Macek, Wojciech; Branco, Ricardo; Costa, José Domingos; Pereira, CândidaThe paper studies the effect of strain-loading sequence on fatigue lifetime and fracture surface topographies in 7075-T651 aluminum alloy specimens. Fatigue tests were performed in two ways: (i) constant-amplitude loading and (ii) two series of variable amplitude loading with non-zero mean strain values. The topography of the fatigue fractures was measured over their entire surfaces with the help of an optical confocal measurement system. The results of fatigue tests in the form of equivalent strains, εaeq, such as the weighted mean of strain components, εa1, εa2, and fatigue life, Nf, were used as the sum of the partial number of cycles N1, and N2. This study indicates, inter alia, that the values of the fracture surface parameter core height Sk, found in the two-step loading program, are linearly dependent on the equivalent strain, and logarithmically dependent on the fatigue life.
- Effect of process parameters on the morphological and mechanical properties of 3D Bioextruded poly(ε‐caprolactone) scaffoldsPublication . Domingos, M.; Chiellini, F.; Gloria, A.; Ambrosio, L.; Bártolo, P.; Chiellini, E.Purpose – This paper aims to report a detailed study regarding the influence of process parameters on the morphological/mechanical properties of poly(1-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds manufactured by using a novel extrusion-based system that is called BioExtruder. Design/methodology/approach – In this study the authors focused investigations on four parameters, namely the liquefier temperature (LT), screw rotation velocity (SRV), deposition velocity (DV) and slice thickness (ST). Scaffolds were fabricated by employing three different values of each parameter. Through a series of trials, scaffolds were manufactured varying iteratively one parameter while maintaining constant the other ones. The morphology of the structures was investigated using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), whilst the mechanical performance was assessed though compression tests. Findings – Experimental results highlight a direct influence of the process parameters on the PCL scaffolds properties. In particular, DV and SRV have the highest influence in terms of road width (RW) and consequently on the porosity and mechanical behaviour of the structures. Research limitations/implications – The effect of process and design parameters on the biological response of scaffolds is currently under investigation. Originality/value – The output of this work provides a major insight into the effect of process parameters on the morphological/mechanical properties of PCL scaffolds. Moreover, the potential and feasibility of this novel extrusion-based system open a new opportunity to study how structural features may influence the characteristics and performances of the scaffolds, enabling the development of integrated biomechanical models that can be used in CAD systems to manufacture customized structures for tissue regeneration.