Evaluation of Bioprinting Process by RSM Training

Bioprinting is one of the newest but mostly studied additive manufacturing processes of the last decade. Despite the huge amount of literature on this topic, a huge amount of aspects still have to be fully investigated. Precisely, each 3D printing process is characterized by a low stability and difficult replicability, in relation to conventional processes. For this reason, research on process control and optimization is one of the trending aspects nowadays. In this work, the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) approach is applied to 3D printing of hydrogel for biomedical applications and specifically of biocompatible hydrogels for cell-laden direct bioprinting purposes. Natural polymers are usually very difficult to control and, during a bioprinting process, several parameters are responsible for cell viability and proliferation. The RSM indicated a specific hydrogel composition and precise values of pressure and velocity of printing to assure a proper process stability to obtain uniform and steady filaments. The RSM approach can be therefore used to evaluate the 3D performance of natural polymer-based hydrogels before cell printing.