title: Three-dimensional printing of bone repair and replacement materials:  impact on craniofacial surgery.
abstract: Solid freeform fabrication techniques such as direct write technology can be used to fabricate tissue-engineering scaffolds in 3 dimensions with high levels of reproducibility and precision. These can comprise complex structures made of osteoconductive, remodelable lattices to conduct bone ingrowth and solid barriers to prevent soft tissue invasion. As such, they act as a combination of bone graft and barrier membrane. Results from animal studies have shown that these structures fill rapidly with healing bone and can conduct bone across critical-size defects to fill large defects in rabbit skull. Results indicate that this technology can be used to produce both off-the-shelf and custom-fabricated bone graft substitutes. These may initially be used to restore alveolar ridge defects, but could also be used, in the future, to repair or replace complex craniofacial bone defects such as cleft palate defects. In the more distant future, these technologies could be combined with controlled-release bioactive substances such as growth factors and pharmaceuticals to regenerate complex structures comprising multiple tissue types.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials and Biomimetics, New York University College of Dentistry, New York, New York 10010, USA. john.ricci@nyu.edu
authors.forename: John L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Afraa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Murriky
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Smay
mesh_terms: D020341:Absorbable Implants; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D001847:Bone Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D001861:Bone Regeneration / Q000502:physiology; D016723:Bone Remodeling / Q000502:physiology; D018786:Bone Substitutes / Q000737:chemistry*; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D003102:Colloids / Q000737:chemistry; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000601:surgery*; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010012:Osteogenesis / Q000502:physiology; D010294:Parietal Bone / Q000473:pathology; D016062:Porosity; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D011817:Rabbits; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D012886:Skull / Q000601:surgery*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D018786:Bone Substitutes; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D003102:Colloids; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D017886:Durapatite; C020243:calcium phosphate