title: Four-order stiffness variation of laser-fabricated photopolymer biodegradable scaffolds by laser parameter modulation.
abstract: The effects of various fabrication parameters of our Mask Projection Excimer Laser StereoLithography (MPExSL) system were investigated. We demonstrate that laser parameters directly change the physical properties (stiffness, thermal degradation, and height/thickness) of the poly(propylene fumarate) (PFF) scaffold structures. The tested parameters were the number of pulses, fluence per pulse and laser repetition rate. We present a four-order tuning capability of MPExSL-fabricated structures' stiffness without altering the resin composition or using cumbersome post-treatment procedures. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry confirmed this tuning capability. Prototype-segmented scaffold designs are presented and analyzed to further expand the concept and exploit this in situ stiffness tuning capability of the scaffolds for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Farkas
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ceseracciu
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Diaspro
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy; Istituto Nazionale di Ottica, Via Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Brandi
authors.affiliation: Department of Nanophysics, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy. Electronic address: szabolcs.beke@iit.it.
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Beke
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D005650:Fumarates / Q000737:chemistry; D007834:Lasers; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011126:Polypropylenes / Q000737:chemistry; D016062:Porosity; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D005650:Fumarates; D011108:Polymers; D011126:Polypropylenes; C097850:poly(propylene fumarate)
keywords: Biodegradability; Excimer laser; Poly(propylene fumarate); Scaffolds; Stereolithography