Custom-made poly(ester urethane) tailored for 3D printing by Fused Deposition Modelling

INTRODUCTION:

The interest on 3D printing technology as a fabrication method has grown considerably across many disciplines. 3D printing has, in fact, found application in regenerative medicine as well as in the design of tissue models for personalised medicine, drug development and toxicological testing. The most common 3D printing technology is Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) which employs a thermoplastic polymer as starting material that is extruded in sequential layers above its melting temperature to create a 3D object. Poly(lactic acid) is the most diffused thermoplastic polymer for FDM in biomedical applications. Other interesting materials are poly(ester-urethane)s (PUs), due to their high chemical versatility which can be exploited to synthesize a plethora of polymers matching the requirements of different applications. For instance, degradable PUs have been extensively studied in cardiac tissue engineering because of their elastomeric properties.