3D printed scaffolds for biomedical applications

The surge of population led to the urgency of a novel array of devised biofunctional frameworks, adapted to revitalize the functionality of degenerative tissues, and to lift patient's worth of living through tissue-engineered scaffolds competent to foster cellular adhesion, multiplication, and divergence. In this context, ceramic materials have been of great significance considering its inertness inside our body, and intrinsic hardness and abrasion resistance make them widely used as a biomaterial in bone replacement. However, its innate brittleness still limits its wide application in the biomedical field. The enhancement and the inclusion of diverse 3D printing techniques fabricated ceramics or bioceramics, which profoundly bolster their application. 3D ceramic scaffolds have excellent mechanical strength and wear resistance, low electrical conductivity, and make it the best candidate even in the drug delivery field. Hydroxyapatite(HAp) bioglass alumina composite scaffold has compressive strength as high as 157 +/- 2 MPa, the tensile strength of 83 +/- 2MPa, and porosity ranging from 20 to 25%. Currently, these materials used in hard tissue engineering of the dental, middle ear, spinal, and otolaryngology surgery. In this review, we mainly focus on the 3D ceramic scaffolds-its fabrication techniques, ceramic materials used, advantages, applications, and finally, their future scopes.