3D Bioplotter Research Papers

Present bioprinting techniques lack the methodology to print with bioactive materials that retain their biological functionalities. This constraint is due to the fact that extrusion-based printing of synthetic polymers is commonly performed at very high temperatures in order to achieve desired mechanical properties and printing resolutions. Consequently, current methodology prevents printing scaffolds embedded with bioactive molecules, such as growth factors. With the wide use of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in regenerative medicine research, the integration of growth factors into 3D printed scaffolds is critical because it can allow for inducible MSC differentiation. We have successfully incorporated growth factors into extrusion…

While articular cartilage defects affect millions of people worldwide from adolescents to adults, the repair of articular cartilage defects still remains challenging due to the limited endogenous regeneration of the tissue and poor integration with implants. In this study, we developed a 3D-printed scaffold functionalized with aggrecan that supports the cellular fraction of bone marrow released from microfracture, a widely used clinical procedure, and demonstrated tremendous improvement of regenerated cartilage tissue quality and joint function in a lapine model. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed doubled thickness of the regenerated cartilage tissue in the group treated with our aggrecan functionalized scaffold…