Effects of design parameters on the mechanical performance of 3D printed bone scaffolds using Taguchi method.

Bone scaffolds play a crucial role in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine as they provide a supportive framework for cell growth and tissue formation. The mechanical properties of bone scaffolds are critical, but it can be cost and time intensive when considering multiple design iterations. In order to test only the most promising scaffold towards mechanical performance, a pre-testing design procedure using Taguchi method is proposed in this study. Structural parameters such as pore size, pore shape and porosity are considered in design of experiment. The optimal combinations of structural parameters are fabricated and tested to investigate the compressive strength. The results showed that pore size had the most significant impact on the response, while porosity and shape had negligible effects. The larger the pore size, the better the quality characteristic, as indicated by the Signal-to-Noise (S/N) ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]