Accelerated degradation of 3D-printed PETG bone–tissue scaffolds via geometrical control

Abstract

Scaffolds play a key role in bone repair and should have a degradation rate that matches the rate of bone regeneration. However, the slow degradation of bone tissue scaffolds is a major challenge. This research investigated the degradation rate of Polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG) bone-tissue scaffolds printed with different lay-up patterns (0/45, 0/60/120, and 0/90). Degradation kinetics were explored using design-informed processing conditions, considering variations in the printing path length, crystallinity and fibre contact points. The findings revealed that changing scaffold lay-up increased the degradation rate by up to 50 % while maintaining compressive modulus. The research contributes a new and novel material-independent approach for controlling scaffolds degradation rate and mechanical performance.