UNAIR NEWS – The mandible is the lowest bone in the human face. Like any other organs, abnormalities may occur from it. Tumors, either benign or malignant, may cause it. All this time, mandibular resection done to remove infected parts can cause discontinuation of the mandibular bone, so it must be reconstructed.
Based on these problems, three students of Faculty of Science and Technology Universitas Airlangga, Anis Fitria Wulandari (Biomedical Engineering, 2015), Siti Zulaihah (Physics, 2015) and Ika Rachmadanti (Physics, 2016) developed an innovation of PLA scaffold for mandibular reconstruction using 3D Printing technology.
The innovation was funded by the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education through the Exacta Student Creativity Program (PKM-PE) 2018 entitled “Characterization of In-vitro PLA Scaffold 3D- Printing with Hydroxyapatite-Chitosan Coating for Mandibular Reconstruction” with supervision by Dr. Ir. Aminatun, M.Si.
In this regard, Anis, as the team leader, said that the use of 3D printing technology in the modern era is beneficial in the medical field. It can produce an implant in accordance with the bone damage easily and controlled.
One material that is often used in three-dimensional printing explained Anis, is Polylactic Acid (PLA), biodegradable, biocompatible but non-bioactive (unable to interact with body cells) and hydrophobic (unable to absorb body fluids).
“Therefore, our team tried to coat the PLA with bioactive and hydrophilic materials, hydroxyapatite-chitosan alloy,” Anis said.
Furthermore, Anis also explained, to prove that the material is bioactive, viability testing, cell attachment test, in-vitro cell proliferation, and differentiation were carried out while the swelling test was used to determine the level of hydrophobicity.
Author: PKM-PE Team “Characterization of In-vitro PLA Scaffold 3D- Printing with Hydroxyapatite-Chitosan Coating for Mandibular Reconstruction.” Editor: Nuri Hermawan
