Technological watch

Scaffold-based bone tissue engineering relies on the use of bioceramics, due to their inherent biocompatibility and bone bioactivity. However, fabrication of ceramic scaffolds may require harsh post-processing steps and toxic additives, which prevents construction in biological environments. Disclosed herein are biocompatible composite ceramic materials, which may be used as a rapidly solidifying ceramic ink, potentially for single-step extrusion of complex bone-like structures in the presence of live cells. The composites may utilise a bioceramic printing technique that facilitates omnidirectional generation of hierarchically structured bone analogues under mild conditions in the presence of live cells. A matrix suspension surrounding the printed architecture may be used to promote one or more of: robust cell adhesion, proliferation, and osteogenesis in proximity to the composite materials and possibly inks derived therefrom. The compositions may be used in high- resolution printing of ceramic structures within a cell-laden matrix. This may provide opportunities for "one-pot" generation of custom bone microenvironments for disease modelling and regenerative engineering, with scope for translation to in situ bone reconstruction during surgery.