Effect of lattice type on biomechanical and osseointegration properties of 3D-printed porous Ti6Al4V scaffolds

Abstract

Porous structure is an efficient tool for optimizing the elastic modulus and osseointegration properties of titanium alloy materials. However, the investigations on pore shape remain scarce. In this study, we created porous Ti6Al4V scaffolds with a pore size of 600 μm but different lattices (cubic pentagon, diamond, cuboctahedron). The mechanical and biological properties of the scaffolds were investigated in static simulation analysis, in vitro mechanical compression test, computational fluid dynamics, as well as cell and animal experiments. The results demonstrated that the calculated yield strength difference between the three Ti6Al4V porous scaffolds was negligible, at approximately 140 MPa, allowing them to match the strength requirements of human bones. The diamond scaffold has the lowest calculated elastic modulus (11.6 GPa), which is conducive for preventing stress shielding. The shear stress was largely concentrated in the diamond scaffold, and the stress range of 120–140 MPa accounted for the greatest share. The mouse MC3T3-E1 cells were found to attach to all three scaffolds, with the diamond scaffold displaying a higher degree of cell adherence. There was more proliferating cells on the diamond and cubic pentagon scaffolds than on the cuboctahedron scaffolds (P < 0.05). The diamond scaffold exhibited the highest alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium salt accumulation in cell differentiation tests. Besides, the expression of osteogenic genes on the diamond scaffold was higher than that on the cuboctahedron scaffold, the cubic pentagon scaffold displaying the lowest expression. The in vivo studies revealed that all three scaffolds fused well with the surrounding bone and that there was no loosening or movement of the prosthesis. Micro-computed tomography, corroborated by the staining results of hard tissues, revealed that the level of new bone formation was the highest in the diamond scaffold, followed by the cuboctahedron scaffold (P < 0.05). Taken together, the diamond scaffold is comparatively better at optimizing the elastic modulus and osseointegration properties of titanium alloy materials, and thus is a preferred choice for porous design.