Transactions on Additive Manufacturing Meets Medicine
Vol. 7 No. 1 (2025): Trans. AMMM
https://doi.org/10.18416/AMMM.2025.25062062

Critical-Sized Bone Defect Treatment, ID 2062

Guided Bone Regeneration: A novel approach to 3D-printed biodegradable meshes

Main Article Content

Till Strunk (1) Medical Additive Manufacturing Research Group (Swiss MAM), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland; 2) Clinic of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland; 3) Biomaterials and Technology, Department Research, University Center for Dental Medicine Basel UZB, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland), Florian Markus Thieringer (1) Medical Additive Manufacturing Research Group (Swiss MAM), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland; 2) Clinic of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland), Nadja Rohr (Biomaterials and Technology, Department Research, University Center for Dental Medicine Basel UZB, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland), Neha Sharma (1) Medical Additive Manufacturing Research Group (Swiss MAM), Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Basel, Allschwil, Switzerland; 2) Clinic of Oral and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland)

Copyright (c) 2025 Till Strunk, Florian Markus Thieringer, Nadja Rohr, Neha Sharma

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Guided Bone Regeneration (GBR) is a standard surgical procedure to augment jawbone volume, conventionally using titanium meshes or collagen membranes - each with inherent limitations such as stress shielding, imaging artifacts, or insufficient mechanical stability. Here, we introduce a novel 3D-printed, patient-specific biodegradable mesh fabricated via Arburg plastic freeforming (APF) using PLDLLA/?-TCP composite. Three design variants were fabricated: A solid configuration for maximal strength, a porous structure (50% infill) to minimize fibrous tissue ingrowth, and a gyroid design to promote angiogenesis. Our results demonstrate high dimensional accuracy (<1% deviation) and pore sizes of 243±17 µm (porous) and 620±64 µm (gyroid).  Mechanical testing revealed that the solid design achieved a biaxial flexural strength of 129±13 MPa, significantly outperforming the porous (26±5 MPa) and gyroid designs (23±2 MPa). These results lay the foundation for further optimization, including hybrid designs that integrate robust mechanical support with favorable biological properties, ultimately eliminating the need for secondary surgery.

Article Details

How to Cite

Strunk, T., Thieringer, F. M., Rohr, N., & Sharma, N. (2025). Guided Bone Regeneration: A novel approach to 3D-printed biodegradable meshes. Transactions on Additive Manufacturing Meets Medicine, 7(1), 2062. https://doi.org/10.18416/AMMM.2025.25062062