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Volumetric additive manufacturing of pristine silk-based (bio)inks
Maobin Xie1,2, Liming Lian1, Xuan Mu1,3
1Division of Engineering in Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
Nature Communications
|January 13, 2023
Summary
This study introduces new silk-based bioinks for rapid volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM). These biocompatible silk sericin and silk fibroin inks enable complex 3D printing with tunable properties for biomedical uses.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Additive Manufacturing
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM) offers rapid 3D printing but lacks suitable bioinks.
- Silk proteins (sericin and fibroin) are promising biomaterials with tunable properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and characterize pristine, unmodified silk-based bioinks for VAM.
- To explore the properties of VAM-printed silk constructs for biomedical applications.
Main Methods:
- Rapid volumetric printing of silk sericin (SS) and silk fibroin (SF) bioinks.
- Post-fabrication processing to induce specific material properties.
- Cytocompatibility assessment of the silk-based bioinks.
Main Results:
- Successful rapid volumetric printing of complex 3D structures using SS and SF bioinks.
- SS constructs exhibited reversible shape-memory properties (shrinkage/expansion).
- SF constructs demonstrated tunable mechanical properties (100 Pa to 100 MPa) and were cytocompatible.
Conclusions:
- Expanded bioink options for VAM using unmodified silk proteins.
- Demonstrated potential for VAM of silk constructs with tailored properties for biomedical applications.
- Paved the way for advanced silk-based material manufacturing via VAM.
