The development of a modular design workflow for 3D printable bioresorbable patient-specific bone scaffolds to facilitate clinical translation

A streamlined design workflow that facilitates the efficient design and manufacture of patient-specific scaffolds independently applied by the surgical team has been recognised as a key step in a holistic approach towards the envisioned routine clinical translation of scaffold-guided bone regeneration (SGBR). A modular design workflow was developed to semi-automatically fill defect cavities, ensure patient specificity and ideal surgical scaffold insertion for a given surgical approach, add fixation points to secure the scaffolds to the host bone and generate scaffold based on Voronoi, periodic lattice and triply periodic minimal surface pore architectures. The adopted functional representation modelling technique produces models free from 3D printing mesh errors. It was applied to a clinical case of a complicated femoral bone defect. All models were free from mesh errors and the patient-specific fit and unobstructive insertion were validated via digital inspection and physical investigation by way of 3D printed prototypes. The real-time responsiveness of the workflow to user input allows the designer to receive real-time feedback from the surgeon, which is associated with reducing the time to finalise a patient-specific scaffold design. In summary, an efficient workflow was developed that substantially facilitates routine clinical implementation of SGBR through its ability to streamline the design of 3D printed scaffolds.