BIO

Santiago Lazarte is a junior in Biomedical Engineering. He currently works as an undergraduate research assistant in the Surface Interfaces and Materials Tribology Laboratory under Dr. Brandon Krick. He intends to pursue a Ph.D. in Materials Sciences in the future. During his free time, he likes to read, play chess, and spend time with friends.

Characterization of Mechanical Properties of Solvent-Cast 3D-Printed Peptide-polymer Scaffolds for Osteochondral Tissue Regeneration

Abstract

Interactions between cells and biomaterials are essential to regenerating functional tissue. Cells are affected by chemical, mechanical, and other biological cues from their microenvironment. These cues can be functionally embedded in 3d-printed scaffolds for directing mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) differentiation to spatially direct tissue regeneration. In many tissue regeneration applications, including the osteochondral (bone-cartilage) system, the mechanical properties of the scaffold must be tuned to perform a physiological function (i.e. support load) while the new tissue is generated. This work explores how differences in the architectures of solvent-cast 3D printed peptide-polymer scaffolds as well as polymer conjugate concentration will affect their mechanical properties. In this work, we explore different metrics for characterizing the mechanical properties of the scaffolds, mainly through microindentation.

Keywords: Tribology, Engineering, Regeneration, 3D Printing, Scaffolds