Polycaprolactone (PCL) and hydroxyapatite (HA) composite are widely used in tissue engineering (TE). They are fit to being processed with three-dimensional (3D) printing technique to create scaffolds with verifiable porosity. The current challenge is to guarantee the reliability and reproducibility of 3D printed scaffolds and to create sterile scaffolds which can be used for in vitro cell cultures. In this context it is important for successful cell culture, to have a protocol in order to evaluate the sterility of the printed scaffolds. We proposed a systematic approach to sterilise 90%PCL-10%HA pellets using a 3D bioprinter before starting the printing process. We evaluated the printability of PCL-HA composite and the shape fidelity of scaffolds printed with and without sterilised pellets varying infill pattern, and the sterility of 3D printed scaffolds following the method established by the United States Pharmacopoeia. Finally, the thermal analyses supported by the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy were useful to verify the stability of the sterilisation process in the PCL solid state with and without HA. The results show that the use of the 3D printer, according to the proposed protocol, allows to obtain sterile 3D PCL-HA scaffolds suitable for TE applications such as bone or cartilage repair.

聚己内酯 (PCL) 和羟基磷灰石 (HA) 复合材料广泛用于组织工程 (TE)。它们适合使用三维 (3D) 打印技术进行加工，以创建具有可验证孔隙率的支架。当前的挑战是保证 3D 打印支架的可靠性和可重复性，并创建可用于体外细胞培养的无菌支架。在这种情况下，成功的细胞培养很重要，有一个协议来评估打印支架的无菌性。我们提出了一种在开始打印过程之前使用 3D 生物打印机对 90%PCL-10%HA 颗粒进行消毒的系统方法。我们评估了 PCL-HA 复合材料的可印刷性以及使用和不使用不同填充图案的灭菌颗粒印刷的支架的形状保真度，以及按照美国药典规定的方法对 3D 打印支架进行消毒。最后，傅里叶变换红外光谱支持的热分析有助于验证 PCL 固态灭菌过程的稳定性，有和没有 HA。结果表明，根据提议的协议，使用 3D 打印机可以获得适用于 TE 应用（如骨骼或软骨修复）的无菌 3D PCL-HA 支架。