A route toward the development of 3D magnetic scaffolds with tailored mechanical and morphological properties for hard tissue regeneration: Preliminary study: A basic approach toward the design of 3D rapid prototyped magnetic scaffolds for hard-tissue regeneration is presented and validated in this paper

A basic approach toward the design of three-dimensional (3D) rapid prototyped magnetic scaffolds for hard-tissue regeneration has been proposed. In particular, 3D scaffolds consisting of a poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) matrix and iron oxide (Fe ₃O ₄) or iron-doped hydroxyapatite (FeHA) nanoparticles were fabricated through a 3D fibre deposition technique. As a first approach, a polymer to nanoparticle weight ratio of 90/10 (wt/wt) was used. The effect of the inclusion of both kinds of nanoparticles on the mechanical, magnetic, and biological performances of the scaffolds was studied. The inclusion of Fe ₃O ₄ and FeHA nanoparticles generally improves the modulus and the yield stress of the fibres if compared to those of neat PCL, as well as the modulus of the scaffolds. Micro-computed tomography has confirmed the possibility to design morphologically-controlled structures with a fully interconnected pore network. Magnetisation analyses performed at 378C have highlighted M-H curves that are not hysteretic; values of saturation magnetisation (M _s) of about 3.9 emu/g and 0.2 emu/g have been evaluated for PCL/Fe ₃O ₄ and PCL/FeHA scaffolds, respectively. Furthermore, results from confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) carried out on cell-scaffold constructs have evidenced that human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) better adhered and were well spread on the PCL/Fe ₃O ₄ and PCL/FeHA nanocomposite scaffolds in comparison with the PCL structures.