Viscous Fingering as a Rapid 3D Pattering Technique for Engineering Cell-Laden Vascular-Like Constructs

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Tissue Engineering
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Large and thick tissue constructs require efficient vascularization for nutrient and oxygen delivery to embedded cells.
• The diffusion limit restricts nutrient and oxygen transport in engineered tissues, necessitating rapid vascular network formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a rapid patterning technique for engineering vascular-like networks in bioengineered tissues.
• To control cell behavior and create prevascularized constructs using a novel biofabrication method.

Main Methods:

• Utilized viscous fingering in a custom-designed Hele-Shaw cell to create macro- and microscale vascular networks.
• Employed photo-cross-linkable prepolymers with controlled viscosity, flow rate, and volume.
• Incorporated cells into fingering and base gels, manipulating gel properties to guide cell spreading and growth.

Main Results:

• Precisely engineered vascular-like gel structures with fingering patterns within minutes.
• Demonstrated control over embedded cell spreading and growth direction by tuning gel properties.
• Successfully formed prevascularized tissue-like constructs by integrating cell-laden microgels within fingering networks.

Conclusions:

• Viscous fingering is an effective technique for rapid vascularization in bioengineered tissues.
• The developed 3D cell patterning method enables the fabrication of large, stackable vascularized tissue constructs.
• This approach holds potential for both ex vivo tissue modeling and in vivo therapeutic applications.