3D Bioplotter Research Papers

Tissue engineering offers a great potential in regenerative dentistry and to this end, three dimensional (3D) bioprinting has been emerging nowadays to enable the incorporation of living cells into the biomaterials (such a mixture is referred as a bioink in the literature) to create scaffolds. However, the bioinks available for scaffold bioprinting are limited, particularly for dental tissue engineering, due to the complicated, yet compromised, printability, mechanical and biological properties simultaneously imposed on the bioinks. This paper presents our study on the development of a novel bioink from carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC) and alginate (Alg) for bioprinting scaffolds for enamel tissue…

Visualization of low-density tissue scaffolds made from hydro­gels is important yet challenging in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). For this, synchrotron radiation propagation-based imaging computed tomography (SR-PBI-CT) has great potential, but is limited due to the ring artifacts commonly observed in SR-PBI-CT images. To address this issue, this study focuses on the integration of SR-PBI-CT and helical acquisition mode (i.e. SR-PBI-HCT) to visualize hydro­gel scaffolds. The influence of key imaging parameters on the image quality of hydro­gel scaffolds was investigated, including the helical pitch (p), photon energy (E) and the number of acquisition projections per rotation/revolution (Np), and, on…

3D bioprinting techniques have been attracting attention for tissue scaffold fabrication in nerve tissue engineering applications. However, due to the inherent complexity of nerve tissues, bioprinting scaffolds that can appropriately promote the regeneration of damaged tissues is still challenging. This paper presents our study on bioprinting Schwann cell-laden scaffolds from low-viscosity hydrogel compositions including RGD modified alginate, hyaluronic acid and fibrin, with a focus on investigating the printability of hydrogel compositions and characterizing the functions of printed scaffolds for potential use in nerve tissue regeneration. We assessed the rheological properties of hydrogel precursors via temperature, time and shear rate sweeps,…

Three-dimensional bioprinting of biomaterials shows great potential for producing cell-encapsulated scaffolds to repair nerves after injury or disease. For this, preparation of biomaterials and bioprinting itself are critical to create scaffolds with both biological and mechanical properties appropriate for nerve regeneration, yet remain unachievable. This paper presents our study on bioprinting Schwann cell-encapsulated scaffolds using composite hydrogels of alginate, fibrin, hyaluronic acid, and/or RGD peptide, for nerve tissue engineering applications. For the preparation of composite hydrogels, suitable hydrogel combinations were identified and prepared by adjusting the concentration of fibrin based on the morphological spreading of Schwann cells. In bioprinting, the…

Three-dimensional (3D)-printed constructs made of polycaprolactone (PCL) and chondrocyte-impregnated alginate hydrogel (hybrid cartilage constructs) mimic the biphasic nature of articular cartilage, offering promise for cartilage tissue engineering (CTE) applications. However, the regulatory pathway for medical device development requires validation of such constructs through in vitro bench tests and in vivo preclinical examinations premarket approval. Furthermore, non-invasive imaging techniques are required for effective evaluation of the progress of these cartilage constructs, especially when implanted in animal models or human subjects. However, characterization of the individual components of the hybrid cartilage constructs and their associated time-dependent structural changes by currently available non-invasive…

Hydrogels are particularly attractive as scaffolding materials for cartilage tissue engineering because their high water content closely mimics the native extracellular matrix (ECM). Hydrogels can also provide a three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment for homogeneously suspended cells that retains their rounded morphology and thus facilitates chondrogenesis in cartilage tissue engineering. However, fabricating hydrogel scaffolds or cell-laden hydrogel constructs with a predesigned external shape and internal structure that does not collapse remains challenging because of the low viscosity and high water content of hydrogel precursors. Here, we present a study on the fabrication of (cell-laden) alginate hydrogel constructs using a 3D bioplotting system…

Synchrotron radiation inline phase-contrast imaging combined with computed tomography (SR-inline-PCI-CT) offers great potential for non-invasive characterization and three-dimensional visualization of fine features in weakly absorbing materials and tissues. For cartilage tissue engineering, the biomaterials and any associated cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) that is secreted over time are difficult to image using conventional absorption-based imaging techniques. For example, three-dimensional printed polycaprolactone (PCL)/alginate/cell hybrid constructs have low, but different, refractive indices and thicknesses. This paper presents a study on the optimization and utilization of inline-PCI-CT for visualizing the components of three-dimensional printed PCL/alginate/cell hybrid constructs for cartilage tissue engineering. First, histological analysis…