Abstract

Ultrafast 3D Printing of Large-scale Engineered Tissues

Ruogang Zhao, Assistant Professor, SUNY Buffalo

Large size engineered soft tissues hold great promise for tissue repair and organ transplantation, but their fabrication using 3D bioprinting is hindered by the cellular damage caused by the prolonged exposure to the unfavorable printing environment and the limited multiscale printing capability. Here we present a Fast hydrogeL prOjection stereolithogrAphy Technology (FLOAT) that can create a centimeter-sized, multiscale solid hydrogel tissue model within several minutes, thus significantly reducing environmental stress-induced cellular injuries. As a proof of principle, we rapidly print a centimeter-sized hydrogel liver model containing perfusable vascular channels. Media perfusion enabled by the channel network is shown to play a critical role in promoting cell survival and metabolic function in the deep core of the model over long term. We demonstrate the good compatibility of the FLOAT with multiple photocurable hydrogel materials and the strategies to optimize the printing material to improve tissue regeneration such as endothelialization of pre-fabricated vascular channels. Together, these studies show that FLOAT is a promising approach for the fabrication of vascularized engineered tissues of clinically-relevant size and potentially suitable for rapid injury repair and transplantation.