Lovecchio Joseph, Cortesi Marilisa, Zani Marco, Govoni Marco, Dallari Dante, Giordano Emanuele
Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Engineering "Silvio Cavalcanti", Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering "Guglielmo Marconi" (DEI), University of Bologna, 47521 Cesena, FC, Italy.
Gynaecological Cancer Research Group, Lowy Cancer Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, School of Women's and Children's Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2031, Australia.
Materials (Basel). 2022 Mar 24;15(7):2394. doi: 10.3390/ma15072394.
3D printing has opened exciting new opportunities for the in vitro fabrication of biocompatible hybrid pseudo-tissues. Technologies based on additive manufacturing herald a near future when patients will receive therapies delivering functional tissue substitutes for the repair of their musculoskeletal tissue defects. In particular, bone tissue engineering (BTE) might extensively benefit from such an approach. However, designing an optimal 3D scaffold with adequate stiffness and biodegradability properties also guaranteeing the correct cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation, is still a challenge. The aim of this work was the rewiring of a commercial fuse deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer into a 3D bioplotter, aiming at obtaining scaffold fiber thickness and porosity control during its manufacturing. Although it is well-established that FDM is a fast and low-price technology, the high temperatures required for printing lead to limitations in the biomaterials that can be used. In our hands, modifying the printing head of the FDM device with a custom-made holder has allowed to print hydrogels commonly used for embedding living cells. The results highlight a good resolution, reproducibility and repeatability of alginate/gelatin scaffolds obtained via our custom 3D bioplotter prototype, showing a viable strategy to equip a small-medium laboratory with an instrument for manufacturing good-quality 3D scaffolds for cell culture and tissue engineering applications.
3D打印为生物相容性混合假组织的体外制造带来了令人兴奋的新机遇。基于增材制造的技术预示着在不久的将来，患者将接受能够提供功能性组织替代物以修复其肌肉骨骼组织缺损的治疗方法。特别是，骨组织工程（BTE）可能会从这种方法中广泛受益。然而，设计一种具有适当刚度和生物降解性且能保证细胞正确黏附、增殖和分化的最佳3D支架仍然是一项挑战。这项工作的目的是将商用熔融沉积建模（FDM）3D打印机改装成3D生物绘图仪，旨在在制造过程中实现支架纤维厚度和孔隙率的控制。尽管FDM是一种快速且价格低廉的技术这一点已得到充分证实，但打印所需的高温导致了可使用生物材料的局限性。在我们的操作中，用定制的支架对FDM设备的打印头进行改装，使得能够打印常用于包埋活细胞的水凝胶。结果突出显示了通过我们定制的3D生物绘图仪原型获得的藻酸盐/明胶支架具有良好的分辨率、可重复性和再现性，展示了一种可行的策略，可为中小型实验室配备用于制造高质量3D支架以用于细胞培养和组织工程应用的仪器。
