Coaxial nozzle-assisted electrohydrodynamic printing for microscale 3D cell-laden constructs

Abstract

Cell printing has found wide applications in biomedical fields due to its unique capability in fabricating living tissue constructs with precise control over cell arrangements. However, it is still challenging to print cell-laden 3D structures simultaneously with high resolution and high cell viability. Here a coaxial nozzle-assisted electrohydrodynamic cell printing strategy was developed to fabricate living 3D cell-laden constructs. Critical process parameters such as feeding rate and stage moving speed were evaluated to achieve smaller hydrogel filaments. The effect of CaCl 2 feeding rate on the printing of 3D alginate hydrogel constructs was also investigated. The results indicated that the presented strategy can print 3D hydrogel structures with relatively uniform filament dimension (about 80 μm) and cell distribution. The viability of the encapsulated cells was over 90%. We envision that the coaxial nozzle-assisted electrohydrodynamic printing will become a promising cell printing strategy to advance biomedical innovations. Keywords: electrohydrodynamic printing; cell printing; bioprinting; biofabrication; tissue engineering

Chemical insights into bioinks for 3D printing

“…149 PLGA microspheres loaded with the proangiogenic drug atorvastatin have also been added inside the 'shell' bioink composed of alginate, collagen and vascular dECM, to create artificial blood vessels. 65 Notably, the reverse process was also performed, 150 i.e. alginate and cells on the core and calcium chloride on the shell, to print hydrogel ribbons with a lower quantity of salts inside the hydrogel and better printing accuracy.…”

Mechanisms and modeling of electrohydrodynamic phenomena

“…Followed by their seminal work, a series of applications appear in recent years, and applications include varied electronics, biotechnology, and three-dimensional (3D) printing. Liang[ 7 ] used the coaxial nozzle to print microscale 3D cell-laden constructs, and Liu[ 8 ] investigated that influence of EHD jetting parameters on the morphology of PCL scaffolds. Designs of EHD printing system and recent applications of high-resolution printing will be introduced in the following paper due to the limitation of length.…”

Recent Strategies in Fabrication of Gradient Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering Applications

“…3) In addition, the crosslinking method for stabilization should not be toxic to the cells 79. On the other hand, condition of bio‐printing process including applied voltage, the moving speed of the orifice, and the feeding speed of the bio ink could influence the formation of the desired hydrogel 80. Specifically, diameter of orifice should be enough to pass through the cells without damaging the cells when producing cell‐laden hydrogel 71…”