LAUSR

The acoustic and mechanical properties of 3D-printed porous poly-(ethylene glycol)-diacrylate (PEGDA) hydrogel scaffolds, as a widely used biomaterial, with different geometric channels (hexagonal and square) were explored using a pulse echo technique. The measured values of attenuation and speed of sound were found to be within the range of reported values for soft tissues making PEGDA scaffolds a suitable candidate for cartilage tissue engineering. We also showed that these properties as well as Young’s modulus can be controlled and adjusted to desired values close to biological tissues by varying the 3D printing parameters. Furthermore, our 5-day proliferation as well as three-week chondrogenic differentiation results revealed that cell growth and tissue formation depend on the geometrical features of the 3D-printed scaffolds as well. Cell adhesion and proliferation greatly improved for scaffolds with square and hexagonal pore geometries compared to nonporous scaffolds. Scaffolds with square pores were...