3D Bioplotter Research Papers

Hydro­gel-based cardiac tissue engineering offers great promise for myocardial infarction repair. The ability to visualize engineered systems in vivo in animal models is desired to monitor the performance of cardiac constructs. However, due to the low density and weak X-ray attenuation of hydro­gels, conventional radiography and micro-computed tomography are unable to visualize the hydro­gel cardiac constructs upon their implantation, thus limiting their use in animal systems. This paper presents a study on the optimization of synchrotron X-ray propagation-based phase-contrast imaging computed tomography (PCI-CT) for three-dimensional (3D) visualization and assessment of the hydro­gel cardiac patches. First, alginate hydro­gel was 3D-printed into…

In tissue engineering, non-invasive imaging of biomaterial scaffolds and tissues in living systems is essential to longitudinal animal studies for assessments without interrupting the repair process. Conventional X-ray imaging is inadequate for use in soft tissue engineering due to the limited absorption difference between the soft tissue and biomaterial scaffolds. X-ray phase-based imaging techniques that derive contrast from refraction or phase effects rather than absorption can provide the necessary contrast to see low-density biomaterial scaffolds and tissues in large living systems. This paper explores and compares three synchrotron phase-based X-ray imaging techniques—computed tomography (CT)-diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI), -analyzer based imaging…

Long-term in vivo studies on animal models and advances from animal to human studies should rely on noninvasive monitoring methods. Synchrotron radiation (SR)-diffraction enhanced imaging (DEI) has shown great promise as a noninvasive method for visualizing native and/or engineered tissues and bio-microstructures with appreciable details in situ. The objective of this study was to investigate SR-DEI for in situ visualization and characterization of tissue-engineered scaffolds implanted in cartilage. A piglet stifle joint implanted with an engineered scaffold made from poly-ɛ-caprolactone was imaged using SR computed tomography (CT)-DEI at an X-ray energy of 40 keV. For comparison, in situ visualization was also…