EAGER: Cybermanufacturing: Cloud-based, Rapid, Microscale 3D Bioprinting

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Precision tissue engineering is an emerging field that applies the principles of engineering and life sciences to the development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain or improve tissue function or a whole organ. The success of tissue engineering relies on the ability to manufacture/print complex, functional three-dimensional structures with seeded/encapsulated live cells. Current printing techniques are typically very slow, have limited printing resolution for cells, and are limited in their ability to fully replicate the in vivo environment, either in terms of the material used, the distribution of cells, or the complex geometries of the native physiology. These bioprinters are usually individual lab/fab based, not accessible to the broader scientific communities. This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) award supports fundamental research to provide needed knowledge for the development of a cloud-based, rapid, 3D bioprinting platform that creates functional tissues with application to the emerging field of precision medicine. By using the anticipated system, a research team will be able to create specialized tools and share critical data with the biomedical science community through the cloud. Therefore, results from this research will benefit the U.S. economy and society. This research involves several disciplines including manufacturing, biomaterials science, cloud computing, and precision medicine. The multi-disciplinary approach will help broaden participation of underrepresented groups in research and positively impact engineering education.This project presents a simple and rapid fabrication approach for encapsulating cells within complex 3D geometries using a combination of digital printing and a naturally-derived gelatin-based hydrogel. By providing scanless printing, the fabricated structures will not exhibit the planar artifacts induced by traditional drop-by-drop and layer-by-layer fabrication approaches that involve discrete movement of the linear stage to a new position. Such a bioprinting platform can create much better mechanical integrity of the tissue construct than a traditional bioplotter. The macromer solution used during fabrication can easily be changed to incorporate a variety of bioactive molecules, such as growth factors, drugs, or genetic cues along with multiple cell types. This work fills a large knowledge gap in the field for developing a scalable technique for rapidly fabricating complex 3D cell-laden scaffolds for precision medicine. The cloud-based software architecture will provide a modular, extensible, remotely accessible, and user-friendly "web app" to enhance the collaborative potential of the bioprinting platform across multiple users. The research team will perform experiments and simulation to understand the mechanism of light interactions with polymer chains, and establish relationships between process parameters and mechanical properties of the 3D-printed tissue scaffolds.