El Kommos Anthony, Jackson Alicia R, Andreopoulos Fotios, Travascio Francesco
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA.
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33146, USA.
Gels. 2024 May 13;10(5):329. doi: 10.3390/gels10050329.
The development of cell-based biomaterial alternatives holds significant promise in tissue engineering applications, but it requires accurate mechanical assessment. Herein, we present the development of a novel 3D-printed confined compression apparatus, fabricated using clear resin, designed to cater to the unique demands of biomaterial developers. Our objective was to enhance the precision of force measurements and improve sample visibility during compression testing. We compared the performance of our innovative 3D-printed confined compression setup to a conventional setup by performing stress relaxation testing on hydrogels with variable degrees of crosslinking. We assessed equilibrium force, aggregate modulus, and peak force. This study demonstrates that our revised setup can capture a larger range of force values while simultaneously improving accuracy. We were able to detect significant differences in force and aggregate modulus measurements of hydrogels with variable degrees of crosslinking using our revised setup, whereas these were indistinguishable with the convectional apparatus. Further, by incorporating a clear resin in the fabrication of the compression chamber, we improved sample visibility, thus enabling real-time monitoring and informed assessment of biomaterial behavior under compressive testing.
基于细胞的生物材料替代品的开发在组织工程应用中具有巨大潜力，但需要进行准确的力学评估。在此，我们展示了一种新型3D打印的受限压缩装置的开发，该装置使用透明树脂制造，旨在满足生物材料开发者的独特需求。我们的目标是提高力测量的精度，并在压缩测试期间提高样品的可见性。通过对具有不同交联度的水凝胶进行应力松弛测试，我们将创新的3D打印受限压缩装置的性能与传统装置进行了比较。我们评估了平衡力、聚集模量和峰值力。这项研究表明，我们改进后的装置能够捕获更大范围的力值，同时提高准确性。使用我们改进后的装置，我们能够检测到不同交联度水凝胶在力和聚集模量测量上的显著差异，而使用传统装置则无法区分这些差异。此外，通过在压缩室的制造中加入透明树脂，我们提高了样品的可见性，从而能够在压缩测试期间对生物材料的行为进行实时监测和明智评估。
