Stereolithography is one of the most promising technologies for the production of tailored implants. Within this study, we show the results of a new resin formulation for three-dimensional printing which is also useful for subsequent surface functionalization. The class of materials is based on monomers containing either thiol or alkene groups. By irradiation of the monomers at a wavelength of 266 nm, we demonstrated an initiator-free stereolithographic process based on thiol-ene click chemistry. Specimens made from this material have successfully been tested for biocompatibility. Using Fourier-transform infrared spectrometry and fluorescent staining, we are able to show that off-stoichiometric amounts of functional groups in the monomers allow us to produce scaffolds with functional surfaces. We established a new protocol to demonstrate the opportunity to functionalize the surface by copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition chemistry. Finally, we demonstrate a three-dimensional bioprinting concept for the production of potentially biocompatible polymers with thiol-functionalized surfaces usable for subsequent functionalization.
This paper demonstrates the essential and efficient methods to design, and fabricate optimal vascular network for tissue engineering structures based on their physiological conditions. Comprehensive physiological requirements in both micro and macro scales were considered in developing the optimisation design for complex vascular vessels. The optimised design was then manufactured by stereolithography process using materials that are biocompatible, elastic and surface bio-coatable. The materials are self-developed photocurable resin consist of BPA-ethoxylated-diacrylate, lauryl acrylate and isobornylacrylate with Irgacure ® 184, the photoinitiator. The optimised vascular vessel offers many advantages: 1) it provides the maximum nutrient supply; 2) it minimises the recirculation areas and 3) it allows the wall shear stress on the vessel in a healthy range. The stereolithography manufactured vascular vessels were then embedded in the hydrogel seeded with cells. The results of in vitro studies show that the optimised vascular network has the lowest cell death rate compared with a pure hydrogel scaffold and a hydrogel scaffold embedded within a single tube in day seven. Consequently, these design and manufacture routes were shown to be viable for exploring and developing a high range complex and specialised artificial vascular networks.
Abstract:The aim of this paper is to raise awareness of the ArtiVasc 3D project and its findings. Vascularization is one of the most important and highly challenging issues in the development of soft tissue. It is necessary to supply cells with nutrition within a multilayer tissue, for example in artificial skin. Research on artificial skin is driven by an increasing demand for two main applications. Firstly, for the field of regenerative medicine, the aim is to provide patients with implants or grafts to replace damaged soft tissue after traumatic injuries or ablation surgery. Secondly, another aim is to substitute expensive and ethically disputed pharmaceutical tests on animals by providing artificial vascularized test beds to simulate the effect of pharmaceuticals into the blood through the skin. This paper provides a perspective on ArtiVasc 3D, a major European Commission funded project that explored the development of a full thickness, vascularized artificial skin. The paper provides an overview of the aims and objectives of the project and describes the work packages and partners involved. The most significant results of the project are summarized and a discussion of the overall success and remaining work is given. We also provide the journal papers resulting from the project.
The automated production of artificial biological structures for biomedical applications continues to gather interest. Different fields of science are combined to find solutions for the arising multidimensional problems. Additive manufacturing in combination with material science provides one solution for the biological issues around 3D cell culture and construction of living tissues. Here, we present the photoinitiator-free stereolithographic fabrication of thiol-ene polymers with microarchitectures in the range of tens of microns for scaffolds up to the millimeter scale. Scaffolds composed of cubic unit cells were designed using computer-aided design (CAD) and subsequently 3D printed with a custom-made laser stereolithography setup. The process parameters were determined step by step with increasing complexity and number of parameters. Gained insights were applied to the fabrication of 3D printed test specimens. The quality of the 3D printed parts was evaluated by measuring the porosity and optical microscopy images. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of the scaffold structures were characterized using compression testing and compared with the bulk material revealing a lower capacity to bear load but higher flexibility. In this study, we demonstrate the advantages of combining the high-precision, freeform fabrication of stereolithography with a biocompatible material for the fabrication of complex microarchitectures for biomedical applications
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