Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) is a commonly used surgical method for the treatment of cervical spondylosis. As the ACDF surgery is widely used in clinics, how to use suit-able materials to design and prepare cervical interbody fusion cages is a hot research topic. Here, we describe a new three-dimensional (3D) printing approach to create stretchable and tough silk fibroin/nano-hydroxyapatite (SF/nHAp) composites with tunable mechanical properties. The com-pressive strength of the novel composites with biomimetic structure could reach more than 128 MPa. More importantly, the composites were prepared by 30% silk fibroin and 70% hydroxyap-atite, which was very similar to the human bone tissue. Finite element analysis results indicate that the stress distribution of SF/nHAp composites cervical interbody fusion cage in vivo is more uni-form than that of commercial Ti alloy cages. This study provides the effectiveness of SF/nHAp composite to apply in cervical interbody fusion cages interbody fusion cage and in the field of bone tissue engineering.

中文翻译：

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具有新型 SF/nHAp 复合材料的 3D 打印颈椎椎间融合器的生物力学特性

颈椎前路椎间盘切除融合术（ACDF）是治疗颈椎病的常用手术方法。随着ACDF手术在临床上的广泛应用，如何使用合适的材料来设计和制备颈椎椎间融合器是一个热门的研究课题。在这里，我们描述了一种新的三维 (3D) 打印方法，以创建具有可调机械性能的可拉伸且坚韧的丝素蛋白/纳米羟基磷灰石 (SF/nHAp) 复合材料。具有仿生结构的新型复合材料的抗压强度可达128 MPa以上。更重要的是，该复合材料由 30% 的丝素蛋白和 70% 的羟基磷灰石制备，与人体骨骼组织非常相似。有限元分析结果表明，SF/nHAp复合材料颈椎椎间融合器在体内的应力分布比商用钛合金融合器更均匀。本研究提供了SF/nHAp复合材料应用于颈椎椎间融合器、椎间融合器和骨组织工程领域的有效性。