Page 166 - IJB-9-2

International Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
3D printing of drug-eluting bioactive

multifunctional coatings for orthopedic
applications

1
Eben Adarkwa , Abhijit Roy , John Ohodnicki , Boeun Lee ,
2,3
2
2
Prashant N. Kumta 2,4,5 , Salil Desai *
1
1 Center of Excellence in Product Design and Advanced Manufacturing, North Carolina Agricultural
and Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
2 Department of Bioengineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
3 Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, Pennsylvania, USA
4 Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA
5 Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Additive Manufacturing of Functional Biomaterials)

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is implemented for surface modification of titanium
alloy substrates with multilayered biofunctional polymeric coatings. Poly(lactic-co-
glycolic) acid (PLGA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) polymers were embedded with
amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) and vancomycin (VA) therapeutic agents
to promote osseointegration and antibacterial activity, respectively. PCL coatings
*Corresponding author: revealed a uniform deposition pattern of the ACP-laden formulation and enhanced
Salil Desai cell adhesion on the titanium alloy substrates as compared to the PLGA coatings.
(sdesai@ncat.edu)
Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy
Citation: Adarkwa E, Roy A, confirmed a nanocomposite structure of ACP particles showing strong binding with
Ohodnicki J, et al., 2023, 3D the polymers. Cell viability data showed comparable MC3T3 osteoblast proliferation
printing of drug-eluting bioactive
multifunctional coatings for on polymeric coatings as equivalent to positive controls. In vitro live/dead assessment
orthopedic applications. Int J indicated higher cell attachments for 10 layers (burst release of ACP) as compared to 20
Bioprint, 9(2): 661. layers (steady release) for PCL coatings. The PCL coatings loaded with the antibacterial
https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v9i2.661
drug VA displayed a tunable release kinetics profile based on the multilayered design
Received: July 02, 2022 and drug content of the coatings. Moreover, the concentration of active VA released
Accepted: September 02, 2022 from the coatings was above the minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum
bactericidal concentration, demonstrating its effectiveness against Staphylococcus
Published Online: January 04, 2023
aureus bacterial strain. This research provides a basis for developing antibacterial
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). biocompatible coatings to promote osseointegration of orthopedic implants.
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution Keywords: Antibacterial; 3D printing; Orthopedic implants; Osseointegration; Polymeric
License, permitting distribution, coatings; Therapeutic agents
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: Whioce
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Tissue surface modification is implemented on a medical implant device to enhance
affiliations. its biocompatibility, wear resistance, corrosion resistance, performance, and therapeutic

Volume 9 Issue 2 (2023) 158 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v9i2.661