TECH

Scientists advance in tissue engineering and print 3D structures with live cells

A group of researchers at the University of Twente in the Netherlands have used a new technique called "in-air microfluidics" and have been able to print 3D structures that have live cells.
Integrated microfluidic systems are characterized by the flow of small volumes of fluids in channels with microscale dimensions (typically tens to hundreds of micrometers) and, although still recent, microfluidics is a technology that finds applications in several fields ranging from biology and chemistry to information technology and optics.
However, the technology was also characterized by being slow, since, for clinical and industrial applications filling a volume of one cubic centimeter took about 17 hours. However, with in-air microfluidics, this can now be done in a few minutes.
With this special technique, the fluids are manipulated, not in the microchannels, but in the air, and from the use of two jets with different fluids will result in new materials and building blocks solid and printable in a single step.
These biological building blocks are printed on a 3D structure that looks like a sponge, filled with cells and fluids, and whose modular biomaterials have an internal structure quite similar to that of the natural tissue.
The novel microfluidic approach presented in Science Advances is a promising technique in tissue engineering where the damaged tissue is repaired using cultured patient material.



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