Engineering Patient-specific bioprinted constructs for treatment of degenerated Intervertebral Disc

Project Description: Lower back pain (LBP), which is strongly associated with intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration, is one of the most frequently reported age- and work-related disorder in actual society, leading to a huge socio-economic impact worldwide.

The current treatments have poor clinical outcomes and thus there is a growing interest in the potential of cell-based tissue engineering (TE) approaches aimed to regenerate the damaged IVD and restore full disc function. Silk fibroin scaffolds have promising features for tissue engineering strategies, once the physico-chemical and biological performances of the scaffolds can be tailored in a wide range by using different formulations and blending with elastin to mimic IVD ultrastructure. The proposed two-stage strategy consists in perform total IVD substitution/regeneration using a personalized approach by means of using reverse engineering, i.e. combining imaging techniques (e.g. MRI and micro-CT) and 3D-bioprinting technology.

In the first stage, human IVD datasets (MRI or CT) are adequately analyzed for developing accurate 3D models that mimic the native IVD sub-compartments. In the second stage, silk-based hydrogels are printed as 3D anatomical scaffolds and characterized thoroughly in vitro.

The implantation of custom-made silk/elastin implants closely mimicking native IVD and possessing an appropriate size, shape, mechanical performance, and biodegradability can improve recovery time after surgery and help to restore spine biofunctionality.