3D Printing Methyl Cellulose Hydrogel Wound Dressings with Parameter Exploration Via Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation.

Purpose: To investigate and optimize the use of methyl cellulose in the fabrication of three-dimensional (3D) printed drug-loaded hydrogel wound dressings for the treatment of burns.

Method: The effects of incorporating various salts on the properties of methyl cellulose, especially the gelation temperature was investigated for methyl cellulose to undergo gelation at skin temperature (i.e., 31.7°C). The optimized methyl cellulose and salt compositions were then loaded with various drugs beneficial for the treatment of burns. Printability and cumulative release profiles for selected drugs were then obtained, which were then fitted to common release kinetic models. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation was also explored to investigate the relationship between printing parameters and the hydrogel filament produced during extrusion.

Results: The printed hydrogels had moderate dimensional integrity, were found to be stable for up to 2 weeks and demonstrated good swelling properties. In vitro drug release studies of various drugs showed that the hydrogel was able to release various drugs within 6 h and release profiles were fitted to common in vitro drug release models, such as the Korsmeyer Peppas model and the Weibull model. While there were deviations from the actual printing process, CFD simulation was able to predict the shape of the printed structure and showed fair accuracy in determining the mass flow rate and line width of extruded hydrogels.

Conclusions: Methyl cellulose hydrogels with optimized salt composition demonstrated suitable properties for a wound dressing application, revealing its potential to be used for in situ wound dressing applications.