University of Bayreuth
University of Bayreuth has announced that a team from the university, led by Professor Dr Leonid Ionov, has developed a new type of 3D printing technology that combines hydrogels and fibres. The process, combined in one device for the first time according to the team, enables the production of constructs with fibrous structures and uniaxial cell alignment.
In the study by Ionov and his team, they used various types of hydrogels that were extensively tested for the 3D printing of tissues. The cell containing-hydrogels, also known as bioink, are combined with fibres to create a composite material, which is achieved by using 3D bioprinting with an integrated touch-spinning process.
Touch spinning is a scalable process for producing fibres from a polymer solution or melt. The Bayreuth scientists have now combined 3D bioprinting technology with touch-spinning technology in a single device for the first time according to the institution.
“The insights gained in this study are of great importance for the production of tissues and in particular tissues with fibrous structures and uniaxial alignment of cells such as connective and muscle tissue,” said Prof. Dr Leonid Ionov.
The Bayreuth scientists used various hydrogels in the experiments and compared their properties. Hydrogels have been widely used in scaffold materials for tissue engineering and bio fabrication for decades says the university.
Bayreuth says the combination of a hydrogel system with a fibre system reduces the processing requirements for hydrogels, such as cross-linking to improve their mechanical properties, as the mechanical properties of the composite materials are covered by the fibre system. The team says the requirement for a low degree of cross-linking is advantageous for subsequent tissue formation.
“The hydrogel provides the cells with an aqueous environment that promotes the good functioning of the cells, while the fibres should control the orientation of the cells along the main direction of the fibre,” said Ionov.
Building on the invention of the new and already patented device that combines the two techniques, the Bayreuth scientists have founded the start-up company “biovature GmbH” under the leadership of PR Dr habil. Alla Synytska, Co Founder and CEO.
