Droplet bioprinting of acellular and cell-laden structures at high-resolutions
- Syracuse Univ., NY (United States)
- Clemson Univ., SC (United States)
Advances in digital light projection(DLP) based (bio) printers have made printing of intricate structures at high resolution possible using a wide range of photosensitive bioinks. A typical setup of a DLP bioprinter includes a vat or reservoir filled with liquid bioink, which presents challenges in terms of cost associated with bioink synthesis, high waste, and gravity-induced cell settling, contaminations, or variation in bioink viscosity during the printing process. Here, we report a vat-free, low-volume, waste-free droplet bioprinting method capable of rapidly printing 3D soft structures at high resolution using model bioinks and model cells. A multiphase many-body dissipative particle dynamics model was developed to simulate the dynamic process of droplet-based DLP printing and elucidate the roles of surface wettability and bioink viscosity. Process variables such as light intensity, photo-initiator concentration, and bioink formulations were optimized to print 3D soft structures (∼0.4–3 kPa) with a typical layer thickness of 50 µm, an XY resolution of 38 ± 1.5 μm and Z resolution of 237 ± 5.4 µm. To demonstrate its versatility, droplet bioprinting was used to print a range of acellular 3D structures such as a lattice cube, a Mayan pyramid, a heart-shaped structure, and a microfluidic chip with endothelialized channels. Droplet bioprinting, performed using model C3H/10T1/2 cells, exhibited high viability (90%) and cell spreading. Additionally, microfluidic devices with internal channel networks lined with endothelial cells showed robust monolayer formation while osteoblast-laden constructs showed mineral deposition upon osteogenic induction. Overall, droplet bioprinting could be a low-cost, no-waste, easy-to-use, method to make customized bioprinted constructs for a range of biomedical applications.
- Research Organization:
- Clemson Univ., SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- National Institutes of Health; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0023389
- OSTI ID:
- 3003297
- Journal Information:
- Biofabrication, Journal Name: Biofabrication Journal Issue: 3 Vol. 16; ISSN 1758-5090; ISSN 1758-5082
- Publisher:
- IOP Publishing - International Society of BiofabricationCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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