Objectives: To assess physical properties and SIM releasing profiles of the scaffolds
Methods: The experiment groups consisted of PCL-10%SIM scaffolds (Group 1), PCL-20%SIM scaffolds (Group 2) and pure PCL scaffolds (control). Physical characteristics including surface morphologies, porosity, mechanical properties were assessed. SIM releasing profiles of the experiment groups were assessed for 14 days. Five scaffolds of each group were immersed in phosphate buffer saline solution and incubated at 37◦c. The releasing concentrations of SIM were assessed daily by spectrophotometry at 238 nm.
Results: SIM particles were found dispersing throughout the filaments of the scaffolds. The surface morphologies and the porosity of the scaffolds were suitable for bone regeneration. The compressive strength of the scaffolds was low due to their flexibility. SIM releasing of the experiment groups burst during the first 2 days (p<0.05). After that, slow releasing was found until day14 and it seemed to be sustained thereafter. The releasing concentration of group 1 was lower than that of group 2 (p>0.05). The average SIM concentration released per day of group 1 and group 2 were 76.34 μM and 87.79 μM respectively.
Conclusions: The PCL-SIM 3D scaffolds were successfully fabricated by mMSMD technique. The scaffolds obtained the ability to sustained release SIM during the bone healing periods. However, the average releasing concentrations of SIM were different from the optimum concentrations for osteoblasts reported by previous literatures.