Design, fabrication and initial evaluation of a novel hybrid bioextrusion system for tissue engineering applications

A novel hybrid biomanufacturing system, called Plasma-assisted Bioextrusion System (PABS), has been developed to produce multi-material and functional graded scaffolds for tissue engineering applications. It combines pressure-assisted extrusion heads, screw-assisted extrusion heads and plasma jets, allowing surface of printed scaffolds matching the characteristics of the surrounding tissue. This paper explores this system to produce PCL and PCL/CNT scaffolds for bone applications. Processing conditions were optimized in terms of deposition velocity, screw rotational velocity and the effect of these parameters on the morphological and mechanical properties of produced scaffolds assessed.