Poster Presentations
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Towards a Novel 3D Hydrogel Printing Method for Cardiac Muscle Modelling
Benjamin Fischer, Student, Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT
Approximately 50% of all deaths in Europe are caused by cardiovascular diseases (1). To enhance translational research a new cardiac muscle model is developed that more closely resembles heart physiology.
One of the main drawbacks with conventional heart muscle models is the stiffness of cell culture plasticware, which does not recapitulate the soft and elastic environment of the heart (2).
Here we present a highly biocompatible and elastic scaffold printed with ultra-high viscosity (UHV) alginate obtained from a special blend of algae (L. nigrescens and L. trabeculata). Mild gelling conditions, adjustable stiffness and a cohort of surface modifications make our scaffold a versatile substrate that could mimic physiological cell environments (3).
Additive layer manufacturing is achieved via the Bioscaffolder (GeSim) to engineer hydrogel constructs. Adaptions and modifications of the printing process are described to circumvent problems caused by the fluidic nature of hydrogels.
The constructs are seeded with human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs), allowing donor-specific heart modelling, and hiPSC-CMs are further characterized at the molecular and functional level.
In conclusion, UHV alginate’s superior physical-chemical features make it an exceptional substrate for tissue engineering applications.
Microfluidic Extrusion of Cell-laden Hydrogel Fibers for 3D-Bioprinting
Cristina Colosi, PhD Student, Sapienza Università di Roma
3D Bio-Printing arises from the intersection between 3D-printing and cell encapsulation techniques, allowing for the creation of bio-constructs with programmable spatial disposition of cellular and extracellular matrix components (bio-ink) [1]. At the Italian Institute of Technology (iit) we are developing a bioprinter based on the microfluidic wet-spinning of cell-laden fibers[2] suitable for many different bio-inks. The use of microfluidic platforms coupled with 3D deposition offers the possibility to define the composition and disposition of different bioinks using a single print-head, allowing for the easy creation of heterogeneous constructs.
The microfluidic platforms can be used to vary on-the-fly the density of cell seeding during the printing process, as well as the composition of the embedding ECM. Furthermore, the manipulation of different bioinks at the microscale permits to produce heterogeneous fibers containing different types of cells, disposed in pre-determined patterns, allowing for the creation of complex and highly reproducible co-culture models.
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