MORE | Spring 2018

Developing Novel 3D Printed Hydrogel-based Bioinks

The research team is developing a novel 3D printed hydrogel-based bioinks aimed at improving the understanding of and replicating the biochemical and biophysical cues required for musculoskeletal tissue function and prevention of further tissue degeneration. The research team has successfully assembled a working off-the-shelf 3D printer and converted it into a bioprinter capable of extruding water droplets at a controlled rate. The immediate goal is to print hydrogels that are crosslinked in situ (during extrusion). Then cell-cell and cell-extracellular matrix interactions within these hydrogels will be studied in a simple 3D lattice geometry.