I-Corps: A customizable handheld bioprinter for the in situ deposition of self-healing and polymer-based hydrogels

该I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种手术工具，用于将软植入物和生物材料输送到伤口部位和所需器官。 目前的方法受到生物材料的设计的限制，该设计导致刚度不足和对宿主组织的低粘附性，并且来自针的注射不足以用于大空隙，例如切除的肿瘤区域。 所提出的技术允许用于组织重建手术的多组分生物材料的容易、快速和更受控的递送。它可以最大限度地减少复杂手术过程中的手术风险，降低感染的易感性，并减少麻醉暴露的持续时间。它可以通过为所有重建手术提供功能性植入物的快速输送而转化为其他临床应用。这个I-Corps项目将推进可定制的手持式生物打印机的翻译，该打印机允许在原位沉积自愈合和基于聚合物的水凝胶，以制造稳定和功能性的组织植入物。这样的水凝胶是基于大环主体和互补客体分子的客体-主体物理相互作用。此外，所提出的技术使用水凝胶中甲基丙烯酸酯基团的UV交联来实现植入物的长期稳定性。 该设备是一种基于定制的内窥镜尺寸手持式生物打印机的增材制造工具。 该装置提供了将生物材料同时挤出到钝针的多层同心层中，其中针的长度被选择为控制在生物打印的结构上的移动和分配。该技术的优点包括用于混合多组分生物材料的模块化混合室、可用于手术机器人/工具的柔性的、符合人体工程学的手柄、对多组分生物材料在组织部位上的沉积的显著水平的控制，以及高纵横比，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估来支持审查标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a surgical tool for delivery of soft implants and biomaterials into wound sites and desired organs. Current approaches are limited by the design of the biomaterial that results in inadequate stiffness and low adhesion to host tissue and injections from a needle that are inadequate for large voids, such as surgically-resected tumor regions. The proposed technology allows easy, rapid and more controlled delivery of multi-component biomaterials for tissue reconstruction surgery. It may minimize operative risks involved during complex procedures, reduce susceptibility to infection, and decrease the duration of anesthesia exposure. It may be translated into other clinical applications by providing a rapid delivery of functional implants for all reconstruction surgeries. This I-Corps project will advance translation of a customizable handheld bioprinter, which allows for the in situ deposition of self-healing and polymer-based hydrogels to fabricate stable and functional tissue implants. Such hydrogels are based on guest–host physical interactions of a macrocyclic host and a complementary guest molecule. In addition, the proposed technology uses UV crosslinking of methacrylate groups in the hydrogel for long-term stability of the implant. The device is an additive manufacturing tool based on a custom-made, endoscopic-sized, handheld bioprinter. This device provides simultaneous extrusion of biomaterials into multi-layered concentric layers of blunt needles where the needle lengths are selected to control movement and dispensing over the structure bioprinted. Advantages of this technology include a modular mixing chamber for blending of multi-component biomaterials, a flexible, ergonomic handle that may be adopted to surgical robots/tools, a significant level of control over deposition of multi-component biomaterials over tissue sites, and a high-aspect ratio for hard-to-reach organs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.