Development of In Situ Microfluidic System for Preparation of Controlled Porous Microsphere for Tissue Engineering

Abstract

In this study, we present an in situ microfluidic system to precisely control highly porous polycaprolactone microspheres as tissue templates for tissue engineering. The porosity of the microspheres was controlled by adjusting the flow rates of the polymer phase and the pore-generating material phase in the dispersed phase. The microfluidic flow-focusing technique was adopted to manufacture porous microspheres using a relatively highly viscous polymer solution, and the device was fabricated by conventional photolithography and PDMS casting. The fabricated in situ microfluidic system was used to precisely control the pore size of monodispersed polycaprolactone microspheres. The porous microspheres with controlled pore sizes were evaluated by culturing HDF cells on the surface of porous microspheres and injection into the subcutaneous tissue of rats. We found that the increased pore size of the microspheres improved the initial proliferation rate of HDF cells after seeding and relieved the inflammatory response after the implantation of porous microspheres in the subcutaneous tissue of rats.

Porous Structural Microfluidic Device for Biomedical Diagnosis: A Review

“…Two-dimensional (2D) PDMS layers can be combined together to form 3D structures. Techniques such as the sacrificial template method and soft lithography are also commonly applied to the preparation of PDMS materials with porous structures [ 29 , 73 , 74 ]. UV modifications are also frequently used on PDMS to modify the surface properties by tuning their intensity [ 75 , 76 ].…”

Application of Biomedical Microspheres in Wound Healing

“…Sci. 2023, 24, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 26 [39,63]. For adhering to the uniqueness of microdroplets, specific microfluidic devices are further created based on the structure of microspheres as well as their functional needs [64].…”

“…Zhiguang Zhang et al prepared the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microspheres by the microfluidic technology of the device of T-junction channel [ 62 ] ( Figure 5 e,f). Compared with traditional technology, microfluidic technology possesses lots of advantages, such as low cost, high size controllability, and small droplet volume [ 39 , 63 ]. For adhering to the uniqueness of microdroplets, specific microfluidic devices are further created based on the structure of microspheres as well as their functional needs [ 64 ].…”