Teresa Russo
Institute of Polymers, Composites and Biomaterials - CNR, Italy
Title: Multifuncional materials and additive manufacturing for healthcare
Biography
Biography: Teresa Russo
Abstract
Over the past years, porous bioactive scaffolds with controlled functionalities, obtained via additive manufacturing of polymer-based compounds have attracted research interest in the field of tissue repair and regeneration. On the other hand, the design and the application of injectable systems and hydrogel-based composites able to promote the regeneration of soft tissues represents a crucial aspect for damaged tissue repair, also considering that such strategies could be used in reducing surgical invasiveness and in enhancing biomolecular interactions with cells. Furthermore, in order to repair bone, cartilage, intervertebral disc, adipose tissue, neural, and cardiac tissue, hydrogel-based materials have been widely analyzed as cell delivery systems providing a controlled release of drugs, proteins, cells, gene and other immobilized biomolecules. The suitable combination of 3D scaffold and hydrogels could provide high performance and functional systems, also focusing the attention on the possibility to control drugs or bioactive agent release. In this scenario, 3D polymeric and composite rapid prototyped scaffolds were properly designed and developed, by means of rapid prototyping technique. Different formulation of collagen and collagen-low molecular weight hyaluronic acid (LMWHA) were selected and combined with 3D scaffolds. The biological and chemico-physical performances of the proposed devices have been assessed. On the other hand, rheological and injectability tests were performed in order to obtain important information on the functional properties of the injectable systems in terms of viscoelasticity and flow behavior.