Abstract

Biofabrication of Macroporous Constructs

Marcy Zenobi-Wong, Professor, ETH Zürich

The challenge in tissue engineering of functional organs increases with the organ’s geometric complexity.  The function of ‘flat’ organs (cartilage, skin, cornea) are generally perceived to the simplest to recapitulate, followed by the tubular/hollow organs (vessels, bladder), with the solid organs (liver, kidney, pancreas) being the most difficult.  Flat organs are largely avascular and contain a limited number of cell types, whereas solid epithelial organs are composed of a complex, dense arborization of multiple parenchymal and stromal tissues. In this presentation, we concentrate on methods to augment the bioactivity of hydrogel systems through introduction of macroporous bioinks to enhance mass transport, cell viability and matrix deposition.   In addition, the pros and cons of print and non-print fabrication methods are discussed.