Figure 1

Design of a novel 3D-printed whole trachea from PCL scaffold. (A and B) Representative photograph of native trachea extracted from a four-month-old Zealand white rabbit. (C) Blueprint design of a 3D printed PCL scaffold. (D and E) Representative photograph of a 3D printed PCL scaffold. (F) Representative FT-IR spectra of PCL raw material, 3D-printed PCL samples, and sterilized 3D-printed PCL samples. The characteristic peaks for carbonyl stretching is shown at 1725 cm⁻¹ and spectra present at 1295 cm⁻¹ reveal the backbone C-C and C-O stretching modes both of which revealed no major differences between the three groups. The asymmetric and symmetric C-O-C stretching can be confirmed by the peaks present at 1244 cm⁻¹ and 1192 cm⁻¹, respectively, and peaks at approximately 1065 cm⁻¹ are associated with the COH stretching, where again the pattern is maintained across all three groups. (G) Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Results indicate same amount of heat is required to raise the temperature of the PCL raw material, 3D-printed PCL samples, and sterilized 3D-printed PCL. (H) Representative radial compressive force-deformation curve of scaffold. (I) Average radial compressive force highlighting 10%, 40% and 70% deformation (n = 3).