3D segmentation of intervertebral discs: from concept to the fabrication of patient-specific scaffolds

Aim: To develop a methodology for producing patient-specific scaffolds that mimic the annulus fibrosus (AF) of the human intervertebral disc (IVD) by means of combining magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and 3D bioprinting. Methods: In order to obtain the AF 3D model from patientâ s volumetric MRI dataset, the RheumaSCORE segmentation software was used. Polycaprolactone scaffolds with three different internal architectures were fabricated by 3D bioprinting, and characterized by micro-computed tomography. Results: The demonstrated methodology of a geometry reconstruction pipeline enabled to successfully obtain an accurate AF model and 3D print patient-specific scaffolds with different internal architectures. Conclusion: The results guide us towards patient-specific IVD tissue engineering as demonstrated a way of manufacturing personalized scaffolds using patient's MRI data.The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the project EPIDisc (UTAPEXPL/BBB-ECT/0050/2014), funded in the Framework of the ‘International Collaboratory for Emerging Technologies, CoLab’, UT justin|Portugal Program. FCT is also acknowledged for the PhD scholarship attributed to IF Cengiz (SFRH/ BD/99555/2014) and the financial support provided to J Silva-Correia (SFRH/BPD/100590/2014 and IF/00115/2015). JM Oliveira also thanks the FCT for the funds provided under the program Investigador FCT (IF/00423/2012 and IF/01285/2015). The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Building the basis for patient-specific meniscal scaffolds: from human knee MRI to fabrication of 3D printed scaffolds

The current strategies for the transplantation of meniscus should be strengthened to tackle the faced limitations of current methods in the clinics. One of the limitations is that current implants are not patient-specific. There is, therefore, a pressing need in the clinics to develop patient-specific implants. The aim of this study was to demonstrate a semi-automatic way of segmenting meniscus tissues from patientsâ volumetric knee magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets in order to obtain patient-specific 3D models for 3D printing of patient-specific constructs. High-quality MRI volumetric images were acquired from five healthy male human subjects. The advanced segmentation software, RheumaSCORE, was used for semi-automatic MRI image segmentation of the meniscus tissues. Our methodology allows a full 3D segmentation of the menisci with only minimal interaction on 2D slices. The obtained 3D models were used for the fabrication of tissue engineering scaffolds from polycaprolactone with different internal architectures. The fabricated scaffolds were characterized by micro-computed tomography (µ-CT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and mechanical testing. This study demonstrated the 3D fabrication of patient-specific scaffolds with a 3D printer using the reconstructed 3D models obtained by an advanced segmentation method of menisci from knee MRI. This is a step towards a personalized tissue engineering therapy model for the knee meniscus.This work was supported by the FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network “MultiScaleHuman: Multi-scale Biological Modalities for Physiological Human Articulation” (Contract number MRTN-CT-2011-289897).The authors would like to thank the University Hospital of Geneva for the collaboration .I. F. Cengiz thanks the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the Ph.D. scholarship (SFRH/BD/99555/2014). J.M. Oliveira also thanks the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for the funds provided under the program Investigador FCT2012 (IF/00423/2012)