Cryogenic 3D printing for tissue engineering

Michal Adamkiewicz; Boris Rubinsky

doi:10.1016/j.cryobiol.2015.10.152

Cryogenic 3D printing for tissue engineering

Cryobiology. 2015 Dec;71(3):518-21. doi: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2015.10.152. Epub 2015 Nov 5.

Authors

Michal Adamkiewicz¹, Boris Rubinsky²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Electronic address: rubinsky@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 26548335
DOI: 10.1016/j.cryobiol.2015.10.152

Abstract

We describe a new cryogenic 3D printing technology for freezing hydrogels, with a potential impact to tissue engineering. We show that complex frozen hydrogel structures can be generated when the 3D object is printed immersed in a liquid coolant (liquid nitrogen), whose upper surface is maintained at the same level as the highest deposited layer of the object. This novel approach ensures that the process of freezing is controlled precisely, and that already printed frozen layers remain at a constant temperature. We describe the device and present results which illustrate the potential of the new technology.

Keywords: Cryogen; Freezing; Hydrogels; Tissue engineering; Tissue scaffolds.

MeSH terms

Freezing
Hydrogels / chemistry
Printing, Three-Dimensional*
Tissue Engineering / methods*

Substances

Hydrogels