Polycaprolactone/Pluronic F127 scaffold fabricated by 3D printing for bone tissue engineering

Nowadays, tissue engineering is a developing science to decrease body injuries, and regenerate tissues by scaffolds. 3D printing is a new technique to fabricate various types of scaffolds according to the desired shape and structure. Polycaprolactone (PCL) and Pluronic F-127 were used for fabricating 3D scaffolds for bone tissue. These two polymers are widely used in tissue engineering due to their very suitable properties such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and low toxicity. Several analyses such as FTIR, MTT, and contact angle were accomplished and mechanical properties of the fabricated scaffolds were investigated. The results show that the wettability of 3D printed scaffolds has improved significantly and cell viability was more than 84% within 7 days, however, compressive strength has decreased by about 11%.