Three-dimensional printing with polylactic acid (PLA) thermoplastic offers new opportunities for cryobiology

Tiersch, Terrence R.; Monroe, W. Todd

doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2016.10.005

Cited by 42 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(10 reference statements)

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“…If, however, pieces are redesigned, the use of standardized calculations for freezing rates when using liquid nitrogen vapor, and comprehensive standardized reporting (e.g., of temperature profiles in addition to averaged rates) could ensure harmonization of methods across users while still allowing improvements to be made. As stated above, PLA thermoplastic is especially well suited for cryogenic applications [33]. In our experience, it does not appreciably shrink or warp when cooled, does not become brittle, and can be safely handled immediately after removal from liquid nitrogen.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…All freezing device components were designed using the free version software Sketchup 8 (Trimble Navigation, Sunnyvale, CA, version 8.0.16846) and were fabricated by 3-D printing using polylactic acid (PLA) filament (Makerbot Industries, Brooklyn, NY) with a fused deposition modeling (FDM) MakerBot Replicator 2 (Makerbot Industries, Brooklyn, NY) 3-D printer. This PLA filament was chosen over acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) filament because of our observations of its better properties at cryogenic temperatures (−196 °C) [33]. The polystyrene raft was cut from a 12.7-mm thick (R-3) faced extruded polystyrene foam insulation board (STYRO-FOAM™ Brand DURAMATE™ Plus, Dow Chemical Company, Midland, MI) available at home improvement stores.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With the advent of 3-dimensional (3-D) printing technology, variations among devices can be removed as a bottleneck that prevents the merging of cryopreserved products from different sources under a uniform standard. Thermoplastics such as polylactic acid (PLA) are well suited to use for cryogenic activities [33] and are routinely used in 3-D printers. In addition, the philosophy behind open-source 3-D printing could be used in forming a genetic resource community to share and improve cryopreservation experiences with the use of standardized or harmonized devices and protocols.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3-D printing provides a novel approach for standardization and reproducibility of freezing devices

Childress

Tiersch

2017

Cryobiology

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Cryopreservation has become an important and accepted tool for long-term germplasm conservation of animals and plants. To protect genetic resources, repositories have been developed with national and international cooperation. For a repository to be effective, the genetic material submitted must be of good quality and comparable to other submissions. However, due to a variety of reasons, including constraints in knowledge and available resources, cryopreservation methods for aquatic species vary widely across user groups which reduces reproducibility and weakens quality control. Herein we describe a standardizable freezing device produced using 3-dimensional (3-D) printing and introduce the concept of network sharing to achieve aggregate high-throughput cryopreservation for aquatic species. The objectives were to: 1) adapt widely available polystyrene foam products that would be inexpensive, portable, and provide adequate work space; 2) develop a design suitable for 3-D printing that could provide multiple configurations, be inexpensive, and easy to use, and 3) evaluate various configurations to attain freezing rates suitable for various common cryopreservation containers. Through this approach, identical components can be accessed globally, and we demonstrated that 3-D printers can be used to fabricate parts for standardizable freezing devices yielding relevant and reproducible cooling rates across users. With standardized devices for freezing, methods and samples can harmonize into an aggregated high-throughput pathway not currently available for aquatic species repository development.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3-D printing provides a novel approach for standardization and reproducibility of freezing devices

Childress

Tiersch

2017

Cryobiology

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“…Future studies should address fabrication of 3-D printed vitrification devices, to specifically customize them for use with aquatic species and other applications. Three-dimensional printing with polylactic acid filament is especially suitable for prototyping and fabrication of devices intended for cryogenic applications (Tiersch and Monroe 2016) and offers tremendous opportunity to improve protocols and to assist development of community-based standards due to increasingly widespread ability to 3-D print design files shared over the internet (Hu et al 2017). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our objectives were to: 1) design and prototype by 3-D printing a working pedestal for classifying thin film clarity; 2) establish categorization criteria as a procedure, and 3) test and optimize the device and procedure for efficiency including time for use. This approach can be applied for development of new methods including evaluation of vitrification solution components (Yavin and Arov 2007), concentrations of solution ingredients and target cells, and configurations and volumes of new devices such as 3-D printed loops (Tiersch and Monroe 2016). …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Standardized Assessment of Thin‐film Vitrification for Aquatic Species

Tiersch

2017

N American J Aquac

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Ultra-rapid cooling under the appropriate conditions will produce vitrification, a glass-like state used to cryopreserve small sample volumes, but there are a number of major technical drawbacks impeding application of vitrification to germplasm of aquatic species. These include a lack of suitable devices, and poor reproducibility and comparability among studies due to a lack of standardization. We used 3-dimensional (3-D) printing to produce a viewing pedestal coupled with a classification system to rapidly assess frozen film quality of vitrification loops. Classification time declined with practice from 2.1 ± 0.3 sec to 1.5 ± 0.2 sec (after 200 assessments), and assessments were consistently made in < 2.5 sec. Classifications should be reported with representative images allowing harmonization for quality control. This approach permits rapid classification and can be applied for development of methods including evaluation of vitrification solution components, concentrations of solution and target cells, and configurations and volumes of new devices. Future studies should address the custom fabrication of 3-D printed vitrification devices for use with aquatic species and other applications.

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Exploring pathways toward open‐hardware ecosystems to safeguard genetic resources for biomedical research communities using aquatic model species

Liu,

Koch,

Arregui

et al. 2024

J Exp Zool Pt B

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Development of reliable germplasm repositories is critical for preservation of genetic resources of aquatic species, which are widely utilized to support biomedical innovation by providing a foundational source for naturally occurring variation and development of new variants through genetic manipulations. A significant barrier in repository development is the lack of cryopreservation capability and reproducibility across the research community, posing great risks of losing advances developed from billions of dollars of research investment. The emergence of open scientific hardware has fueled a new movement across biomedical research communities. With the increasing accessibility of consumer‐level fabrication technologies, such as three‐dimensional printers, open hardware devices can be custom designed, and design files distributed to community members for enhancing rigor, reproducibility, and standardization. The overall goal of this review is to explore pathways to create open‐hardware ecosystems among the communities using aquatic model resources for biomedical research. To gain feedback and insights from community members, an interactive workshop focusing on open‐hardware applications in germplasm repository development was held at the 2022 Aquatic Models for Human Disease Conference, Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This work integrates conceptual strategies with practical insights derived from workshop interactions using examples of germplasm repository development. These insights can be generalized for establishment of open‐hardware ecosystems for a broad biomedical research community. The specific objectives were to: (1) introduce an open‐hardware ecosystem concept to support biomedical research; (2) explore pathways toward open‐hardware ecosystems through four major areas, and (3) identify opportunities and future directions.

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Three-dimensional printing with polylactic acid (PLA) thermoplastic offers new opportunities for cryobiology

Cited by 42 publications

References 11 publications

3-D printing provides a novel approach for standardization and reproducibility of freezing devices

3-D printing provides a novel approach for standardization and reproducibility of freezing devices

Standardized Assessment of Thin‐film Vitrification for Aquatic Species

Exploring pathways toward open‐hardware ecosystems to safeguard genetic resources for biomedical research communities using aquatic model species

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