Electro-Assisted 3D Bioprinting Method for Low-Concentration GelMA Microdroplets http://bit.ly/2Td0wKX While low-concentration gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) is biocompatible with 3D bioprinted cell‐laden structures, because of its low viscosity it’s hard to stably make organoids, and even microdroplets, with the material. A team of researchers from Zhejiang University in China focused on fixing this problem in a recently published paper, titled “Electro-Assisted Bioprinting of Low-Concentration GelMA Microdroplets.”
They prepared a prepolymer solution by dissolving freeze-dried GelMA “in modified eagle medium (MEM) at a concentration of 5% (w/v) containing lithium phenyl-2, 4, 6-trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP) at a concentration of 0.5% (w/v),” and then filtering it for sterility, before measuring its viscosity. Compressed air was used to feed the bioink into the electro-assisted device.
The team conducted several experiments with their bioink and electro-assisted bioprinting device, including using a high-speed camera, which was set at 1600fps, to examine the various printing states of low-concentration GelMA droplets near the nozzles under the electro-assisted procedure and evaluating the effect on GelMA microsphere size of electrospray parameters. Confocal Fluorescent Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were both used to complete a series of profile characterizations in order to check out the chemical and physical environment that had been set up by the microspheres. The researchers also analyzed the 5% (w/v) GelMA degradation profile, tested the GelMA bioink’s stress-strain curve, and analyzed the pore area of the 5% (w/v) GelMA material.
The researchers also examined the potential for using their electro-assisted GelMA microspheres method in a variety of applications, such as cellular encapsulation, drug-controlled release, and 3D bioprinting. To set up a device for 3D inkjet bioprinting, the team used PLA material to fabricate a special fixture on an FDM 3D printer, which was then added to the electro-assisted printing device.
In order to examine the printability, the team set low gas pressure (0.5kPa) and high gas pressure (1.5kPa), and the microdroplets were extruded down onto filter paper below, which was exposed to 405 nm wavelength light for crosslinking and observed under the confocal fluorescence microscopy after printing was complete. The team’s research showed that electro-assisted 3D bioprinting of low concentration GelMA microdroplets has a lot of potential in applications such as organoid building, drug delivery, and cell therapy. Co-authors of the paper are Mingjun Xie, Qing Gao, Haiming Zhao, Jing Nie, Zhenliang Fu, Haoxuan Wang, Lulu Chen, Lei Shao, Jianzhong Fu, Zichen Chen, and Yong He. Discuss this research and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com December 27, 2018 at 04:06PM
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