Work

Development and characterisation of a new bioink for additive tissue manufacturing

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Additive manufacturing forms a potential route towards economically viable production of cellular constructs for tissue engineering. Hydrogels are a suitable class of materials for cell delivery and 3D culture, but are generally unsuitable as construction materials. Gelatine-methacrylamide is an example of such a hydrogel system widely used in the field of tissue engineering, e.g. for cartilage and cardiovascular applications. Here we show that by the addition of gellan gum to gelatine-methacrylamide and tailoring salt concentrations, rheological properties such as pseudo-plasticity and yield stress can be optimised towards gel dispensing for additive manufacturing processes. In the hydrogel formulation, salt is partly substituted by mannose to obtain isotonicity and prevent a reduction in cell viability. With this, the potential of this new bioink for additive tissue manufacturing purposes is demonstrated.

Source: Journal of Materials Chemistry B

DOI: 10.1039/c3tb21280g

Authors: Ferry P. W. Melchels, Wouter J. A. Dhert, Dietmar W. Hutmacher, Jos Malda

Institutions: Queensland University of Technology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Technical University of Munich

Language: English

Topic: 3D Printing in Biomedical Research

Subfield: Biomedical Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: European Commission, Australian Research Council

Awards: Frontiers in bone and joint regeneration, Bioactivated hierarchical hydrogels as zonal implants for articular cartilage regeneration, Bioprinting of novel hydrogel structures for cartilage tissue engineering