Additive manufacturing of personalized, semipermeable and biodegradable polymer/metal composite membrane for guided bone regeneration

Abstract

The development of personalized, semipermeable, and biodegradable polymer/metal composite membranes for guided bone regeneration surgery presents a promising solution to address large and complex alveolar bone defects without the need for a secondary surgical removal. However, fabricating such membranes with a customized curved surface shape and semipermeablity remains challenging. In this study, we propose a novel methodology that integrates electrophoretic assembly (electrophoretic deposition) and laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing processes to create personalized, semipermeable, and biodegradable polymer/metal composite membranes suitable for guided bone regeneration applications. Specifically, we first designed a personalized porous Zn substrate using an adaptively unit-cell arrayed filling method, which achieved a complex and manufacturable curved surface shape while ensuring integrity of unit cells and uniform stress distribution. Subsequently, the Zn substrate was fabricated by laser powder bed fusion, and was utilized as both the bracing structure and the template for conformal electro-growth of chitosan/gelatin cryogel to obtain the desired polymer/metal composite membrane. This composite membrane allowed efficient nutrient transfer while inhibiting 100 % fibroblasts infiltration. As compared to Zn substate, coverage of conformal chitosan/gelatin cryogel enhanced mechanical properties and reduced the biodegradation rate of the membrane. Furthermore, the composite membrane exhibited remarkable osteogenesis and anti-infection capacity in vitro. These findings highlight the promising potential of our integrated additive manufacturing approach in fabricating personalized polymer/metal composite materials for biomedical applications.