3D-Printed Porous Dielectric Resonator as a Self-Sensing Scaffold

Abstract

This study presents the design and fabrication of a 3D-printed porous dielectric resonator (DR) as a self-sensing scaffold for monitoring bone regeneration. Full-wave simulations confirmed that the porous DR behaves like a conventional rectangular DR, with similar electromagnetic field distributions but with a frequency shift due to the inclusion of porosity. Using FDM 3D printing technology, a porous zirconia-based scaffold were fabricated. The dielectric properties of the scaffold were further tailored to simulate bone growth by adding hydroxyapatite (HA) layers, resulting in detectable shifts in resonant frequency. The results demonstrate that these frequency shifts can be approximated by an inverse proportional function of the HA layer thickness, highlighting the potential of this scaffold as a passive sensor to monitor the bone regeneration process non-invasively.