Carbon on poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) Ink-jet Printed Sensor for Monitoring Cell Cultures of Myoblasts

Shape memory electrospun nonwovens based on crosslinked poly(ε-caprolactone) for multifunctional biological applications

“…Moreover, the crosslinked structure of the polymer permits to heat the mat above Tm region without losing the fiber morphology. This feature allowed to print, through the application of ink-jet printing technique and a subsequent heat treatment at 110°C, a cytocompatible sensing element on the mat, in order to use it as a scaffold capable of monitoring cell adhesion, as recently done and reported [4].…”

“…This effect was explored through the application of thermo-mechanical cycles to achieve various degrees of fiber alignment and the change in mechanical properties, as well as the possibility to orient cell growth, was measured. Further, thanks to the stability of the fibrous microstructure above Tm, it was possible to print, by a thermal treatment at relatively high temperature, a sensing element on the scaffold surface to indirectly monitor cell adhesion, following a recent and promising research field in Electrochemical Cell-based Impedance Spectroscopy (ECIS) [4].…”

Ink-Jet Printed Stretchable Sensors for Cell Monitoring Under Mechanical Stimuli: A Feasibility Study

“…In fact, choosing a smaller minimum deformation (around 5%) causes a buckling effect due to the hysteretical response of the electrospun, determining, as experimentally shown, a continuous reduction in the stress level with the cycle number and the introduction of an irreversible deformation. 21 Results from preliminary impedance measurements performed both in static and dynamic conditioning, showed a capacitive-like behavior around lower frequencies (phase angle ¼ À20 ) and a resistive-like behavior with higher frequencies (phase angle near to 0 ). During the pre-conditioning sessions performed at different strain values, a variation of the impedance value (in the range of the 10%) could be identified in sync with the sensor cyclic strain (as it is highlighted in paragraph D, results section).…”

“…Among the different available printing methods, ink-jet printing technology represents a very promising technique for the fabrication of sensors for cell culture monitoring due to the interesting compromise between cost effectiveness and output in term of resolution. As shown by our previous works, 1,21 this technique allows the effective deposition of conductive inks (e.g., carbon, PEDOT:PSS) to produce interdigitated sensors on various different substrates, including materials suitable for a mechanical conditioning (Poly-caprolactone (PCL), Nitrocellulose). In particular, considering the specific application mentioned above for myocytes, the material selected has to be able to be subjected to loading/unloading cycles without unwanted buckling effects (i.e., flexure upon load during the unloading step), thus to develop sensors addressing cell cultures monitoring under dynamic conditions.…”

“…More in details, interdigitated sensors were realized by means of ink-jet printing technology using carbon ink À À À well known for affecting positively myocytes cultures 24 À À À and crosslinked PCL mats, which already demonstrated their cytocompatibility and optimal mechanical features. 21 Final sensors were then tested and validated into a customized system, designed to reliably control substrate strain and to continuously interface with an impedance analyzer and À À À without losing generalizability À À À by using myoblasts, thanks to their phenotypic similarity to cardiac muscle, ease of isolation/expansion and relative resilience to hypoxia, 25 therefore optimal for a feasibility study of the proposed approach.…”