Issue 70, 2019, Issue in Progress

Pneumatic conveying printing technique for bioprinting applications

Abstract

Droplet-based bio-printing (DBB) techniques have been extensively accepted due to their simplicity, flexibility and cost performance. However, the applicability of inkjet printing for bioprinting techniques still faces challenges, such as a narrow range of available bio-ink materials, cell damage due to the pressure strike and high shear rate during the printing process. Here, a new droplet-based printing technique, pneumatic conveying printing (PCP), is described. This new technique is successfully adopted for cell-printing purposes. The cells present in the bio-ink are not exposed to any significant pressure and therefore the PCP technique is gentle to the cells. Furthermore, PCP allows the usage of inks with viscosities higher than 1000 mPa s, enabling the usage of bio-inks with high cell concentrations (several tens of millions per millilitre). As a proof of concept, two different cell types were printed with this novel technique. To achieve a printing resolution of 400 to 600 μm, cells were encapsulated into a hydrogel containing calcium alginate. Deposition of the bio-ink drop containing sodium alginate on a surface pre-treated in CaCl2 solution, ensures a fast cross-linking reaction and the formation of gel drops. Cells encapsulated in the alginate gel survive and proliferate. Our novel PCP technique is highly suitable for 2D and 3D cell bio-printing.

Graphical abstract: Pneumatic conveying printing technique for bioprinting applications

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
17 Sep 2019
Accepted
26 Nov 2019
First published
11 Dec 2019
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2019,9, 40910-40916

Pneumatic conveying printing technique for bioprinting applications

I. Brand, I. Groß, D. Li, Y. Zhang and A. U. Bräuer, RSC Adv., 2019, 9, 40910 DOI: 10.1039/C9RA07521F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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