Osteoporosis is a systemic disorder which reduces bone strength, increasing its susceptibility to fragility fractures. It is a global health issue, affecting over 200 million people, and a socio-economic burden, as it requires invasive and expensive treatments. Traditional medications are insufficient for effective healing of large-sized fractures, making the development of new solutions crucial. One of the most promising approaches is bone tissue engineering, with the design of bone scaffolds, which constitute a temporary support for bone healing, helping to regenerate a functional tissue.
The development of new materials with enhanced performance has always presented a challenge for scientists and engineers. A promising approach is to study natural materials that possess unique properties and attempt to replicate their characteristics using new artificial solutions.
Innovation in the BASTA project is driven by the need to address key limitations of current bone scaffolds:
- Bio-inspired design: inspired by the hierarchical structure of real bone, the scaffold incorporates both macro-scale porosity (trabeculae) and micro-scale network of pores and channels (lacunae and canaliculi).
- Advanced fabrication: two-photon-polymerization, a cutting-edge 3D printing technology, was used to replicate structures with a sub-micrometric resolution, necessary to include the network of lacunae and canaliculi. The micro-scale network was designed following two alternative patterns, a simple cubic regular lattice and a randomly generated network.
- Validation via high-precision imaging: synchrotron imaging and deep-learning techniques were employed to assess the printing accuracy and the positive outcomes of cellularizing the constructs.