(267c) Surface Tension-Assisted Additive Manufacturing of Multicomponent Biomaterials

Additive manufacturing, including 3D printing and 3D bio-printing, are enabling the production of geometrically-defined, patient specific biomaterials.¹ Despite the many recent advances in additive manufacturing technologies,² limitations remain to the speed of production, access to a broad range of materials, and easy integration of multiple materials and cells within a single device. Here, we present a facile method to fabricate multicomponent biomaterials with defined geometry incorporating both structural and mechanical support from polymeric constituents (e.g., (meth)acrylates, polycaprolactone, poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)) as well as cellular and tissue integration from hydrogels (e.g., poly(ethylene glycol) based, collagen/elastin based, gelatin methacryloyl based). The method relies on surface tension-driven surface wetting, which allows for rapid coating of a reticulated frame with suspended films. We have developed a physical understanding of the coating process and demonstrate how it can be exploited to fabricate anisotropic biomaterials. In addition, the process can access a variety of applications on account of its scalability and versatility, with a special emphasis on tracheal replacements. We demonstrate the efficacy of this approach to fabricate mechanically supported and cell-laden biomaterials for ex vivo models of functional tissue as well as for human-scale replacement tissue for regenerative medicine applications. Overall, this presentation will present a facile process of multicomponent biomaterial fabrication and illustrate how this contributes to the emerging field of additive manufacturing in biotechnology and medicine.

References

1. Murphy SV et al. Nat Biotech 32 (2014) 773-785
2. Kang HW et al. Nat Biotech 34 (2016) 312-319