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An Additive Manufacturing Technique for the Facile and Rapid Fabrication of Hydrogel-based Micromachines with Magnetically Responsive Components
Published on: July 18, 2018
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Autonomously Self-Adhesive Hydrogels as Building Blocks for Additive Manufacturing
Xudong Deng1, Rana Attalla, Lukas P Sadowski
1Key Laboratory for Space Bioscience and Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Northwestern Polytechnical University , Xi'an, 710072, People's Republic of China.
Biomacromolecules
|November 24, 2017
Summary
Researchers developed rapidly self-adhesive hydrogels for 3D printing functional tissue scaffolds. These dynamic hydrogels quickly regain strength after damage, enabling the creation of robust, cell-supporting structures for tissue engineering applications.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Engineering
- Polymer Chemistry
Background:
- Developing advanced biomaterials is crucial for creating functional tissue scaffolds.
- Additive manufacturing offers precise control over scaffold architecture.
- Self-adhesive and rapidly self-healing materials are desirable for complex tissue engineering constructs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present a straightforward method for preparing autonomous and rapidly self-adhesive hydrogels.
- To explore the utility of these hydrogels as building blocks for additive manufacturing of functional tissue scaffolds.
- To demonstrate the potential of these scaffolds in supporting cell growth for tissue regeneration.
Main Methods:
- Dynamic cross-linking of hyaluronic acid functionalized with 2-aminophenylboronic acid and poly(vinyl alcohol).
- Fabrication of interpenetrating networks with calcium-alginate for enhanced mechanical properties.
- Assessment of hydrogel self-healing capabilities under neutral and acidic pH conditions.
- Additive manufacturing of hollow perfusion channels using the developed hydrogel system.
Main Results:
- The synthesized hydrogels exhibited rapid self-adhesion and mechanical integrity recovery within 1 minute after shear or cutting.
- Incorporation into a calcium-alginate network resulted in an interfacially stiffer, yet still self-adhesive, hydrogel.
- Hollow perfusion channels were successfully fabricated via additive manufacturing within minutes.
- These channels demonstrated stability under fluid perfusion and supported endothelial cell proliferation.
Conclusions:
- A simple and modular method for creating rapidly self-adhesive and self-healing hydrogels was established.
- These hydrogels serve as effective building blocks for additive manufacturing of functional tissue scaffolds.
- The developed perfusion channels show promise for applications in vascular tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
