TY - JOUR
T1 - Developing tuneable viscoelastic silicone gel-based inks for precise 3D printing of clinical phantoms
AU - Nieva-Esteve, Gloria
AU - Agulló, Núria
AU - Grande-Molina, Miguel
AU - Adell, Núria
AU - Tarrado, Xavier
AU - Calvo-Duarte, Laura
AU - Valls-Esteve, Arnau
AU - Krauel, Lucas
AU - Fenollosa-Artés, Felip
AU - Bartes, Robert Texidó
AU - Borrós, Salvador
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s).
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Tissue and organ phantoms with realistic anatomical features are becoming increasingly popular in the medical field due to their potential to revolutionize surgical planning and practice. Despite advancements in the production technology using 3D printing and development of materials, the availability of 3D printable materials that accurately replicate human organs’ mechanical properties is limited. Therefore, we developed a family of silicone gel-based inks that can be 3D printed using direct ink writing (DIW) with tuneable viscoelastic properties that mimic a wide range of soft tissues. The control over viscoelastic properties is achieved by fine tuning of silicone formulations with a rheology modifier to promote the encapsulating silicone oil. This strategy not only allows for the recreation of the viscoelastic behaviour profile of a wide range of soft tissues through amplitude and frequency sweeps but also is entirely compatible with DIW printing for medical model manufacturing. Thus, this study stands as one of the few in the literature presenting a DIW printing technology enabling the printing of silicone with such precise control over viscoelastic properties that it allows for different sensations to be experienced by the evaluating medical team.
AB - Tissue and organ phantoms with realistic anatomical features are becoming increasingly popular in the medical field due to their potential to revolutionize surgical planning and practice. Despite advancements in the production technology using 3D printing and development of materials, the availability of 3D printable materials that accurately replicate human organs’ mechanical properties is limited. Therefore, we developed a family of silicone gel-based inks that can be 3D printed using direct ink writing (DIW) with tuneable viscoelastic properties that mimic a wide range of soft tissues. The control over viscoelastic properties is achieved by fine tuning of silicone formulations with a rheology modifier to promote the encapsulating silicone oil. This strategy not only allows for the recreation of the viscoelastic behaviour profile of a wide range of soft tissues through amplitude and frequency sweeps but also is entirely compatible with DIW printing for medical model manufacturing. Thus, this study stands as one of the few in the literature presenting a DIW printing technology enabling the printing of silicone with such precise control over viscoelastic properties that it allows for different sensations to be experienced by the evaluating medical team.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85188127320&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1039/d4ma00011k
DO - 10.1039/d4ma00011k
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85188127320
SN - 2633-5409
JO - Materials Advances
JF - Materials Advances
ER -