Three-dimensional printing of chitosan cryogel as injectable and shape recoverable scaffolds

Cryogel has macroporous structure and advantages of mechanical stability and injectability for biomedical applications. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a customized manufacturing technology. However, there is little research on 3D printing of cryogel. In this work, we developed a 3D-printable chitosan cryogel using difunctional polyurethane nanoparticles as the crosslinker that reacted with chitosan at 4 degrees C for 4 h to form a stable feeding hydrogel (pre-cryogel) for 3D printing. The printed pre-cryogel was frozen at -20 degrees C to form 3D-printed chitosan cryogel. The 3D-printed cryogel had properties similar to those of bulk cryogel such as high compressibility, elastic recovery, and water absorption (approximate to 3200%). Results from cell experiments indicated that the 3D-printed chitosan cryogel scaffolds provided good mechanical integrity for proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived adult stem cells. The 3D-printed chitosan cryogel scaffolds with injectability and shape recovery property are potential biomaterials for customized tissue engineering and minimally invasive surgery.

Automated summary

This study developed a 3D-printable chitosan cryogel using difunctional polyurethane nanoparticles as the crosslinker, which showed properties similar to those of bulk cryogel and provided good mechanical integrity for proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived adult stem cells in cell experiments. The 3D-printed chitosan cryogel scaffolds with injectability and shape recovery property are potential biomaterials for customized tissue engineering and minimally invasive surgery.