<p>Cellular analysis is an important aspect of disease medication research and has experienced exponential growth in its analysis methods. Three-dimensional printing has become ubiquitous in every engineering sector and has broken down design limitations that were once tied to manufacturing techniques. Three-dimensional cellular growth analysis is a new sector of increasing research as it enables researchers to observe detailed behavior of cellular growth in a 3D environment. Unlike the conventional petri-dish analyses, where the cells would grow across the dish and upwards, culturing in a 3D environment better replicates the tissue environment that cells grow in and provides more precise culturing applications such as cancer research and other areas in epidemiology. The goal of this research project is to design and fabricate an integrated micro bioreactor array with tissue scaffolds using a combination of 3D bioprinting and solid state foaming. The bioreactor is optimally designed to feature chambers to accommodate multiple tissue scaffolds with capability of selective fluid flow to the individual scaffolds for versatility in analysis. The bioreactor was designed using SOLIDWORKS and printed with PEGDA photo ink on a DLP based bio printer. Flow studies were conducted to confirm selective fluid flow in the chambers. The focus of the second part of the project is to fabricate the tissue scaffolds which provide the three-dimensional growth environment for the cells. Dual pore networks scaffolds are fabricated via a combination of 3D printing and solid state foaming. The samples are 3D printed with poly lactic acid (PLA), a cost effective biodegradable material, to generate the first level of porous network. The samples are subsequently saturated with carbon dioxide and subjected to solid state foaming using a microwave to generate the second level of porous network. The effect of microwave foaming parameters: temperature, power, and foaming time are studied. The foamed samples were characterized for: porosity using ASTM D792, pore size using scanning electron microscope, surface roughness using optical profilometer, compression strength, and percent crystallization using thermal calorimetry. Samples with pore size on the order of 20 µm and porosity in excess of 80% were obtained and chosen for cell culture. Cell culture was done on these scaffolds with MCF 7 human breast cancer cells. The scaffolds with cultured cells were imaged with a scanning electron microscope to check for cell growth and proliferation. In summary, an integrated micro bioreactor array with tissue scaffolds was fabricated and used to successfully demonstrate cell viability and growth. This microbioreactor array can be used for holistic drug testing and development of bio-artificial organs.</p>

Micro-Bioreactor for Tissue Scaffolds

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IMECE/IMECE2021/volume/85543

ASME 2021 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2021)

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