Abstract
The application of microfluidics technology in additive manufacturing is an emerging approach that makes possible the fabrication of functional three-dimensional cell-laden structured biomaterials. A key challenge that needs to be addressed using a microfluidic-based printhead (MBP) is increasing the controllability over the properties of the fabricated microtissue. Herein, an MBP platform is numerically simulated for the fabrication of solid and hollow microfibers using a microfluidic channel system with high level of controllability over the microfiber geometrical outcomes. Specifically, the generation of microfibers is enabled by studying the effects of microfluidic-based bioprinting parameters that capture the different range of design, bioink material, and process parameter dependencies as numerically modeled as a multiphysics problem. Furthermore, the numerical model is verified and validated, exhibiting good agreement with literature-derived experimental data in terms of microfiber geometrical outcomes. Additionally, a predictive mathematical formula that correlates the dimensionless process parameters with dimensionless geometrical outcomes is presented to calculate the geometrical outcomes of the microfibers. This formula is expected to be applicable for bioinks within a prescribed range of the density and viscosity value. The MBP applications are highlighted towards precision fabrication of heterogeneous microstructures with functionally graded properties to be used in organ generation, disease modeling, and drug testing studies.
Highlights
The phase boundary fields and geometrical feature sizes of the printed microfibers are calculated based on key microfluidic flow model inputs of the core, sample, and sheath flow channel
In the case of the hollow microfiber fabrication, the core flow is responsible to maintain the inner shape of the hollow microfiber and the sheath flow preserves a gap between the channel wall and the sample fluid
In order to increase the controllability over the continuity of fabricated microfibers, it is essential to understand the flow regime threshold from droplet to continuous flow based on the value of effective process parameters
Summary
Introduction to bioprintingEach year, millions of patients worldwide await organ transplantation due to the limitation of donor organs. Disease modeling and drug testing technology platforms necessitate living tissues for high-fidelity experimental workflows that yield physiologically relevant biological insights. In this respect, additive manufacturing (AM) encapsulates 3D printing technologies, including bioprinting towards realizing engineered tissues, organ generation, and disease modeling with the computer-aided precision fabrication of native-like tissue constructs. Current limitations with AM techniques exist, including printing at high resolutions, along with precise microfiber geometrical outcomes towards functionally graded tissue constructs To address these issues, the convergence of microfluidic and AM technologies will be advanced to augment the accuracy and control over the realizable geometrical outcomes
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