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

这个i-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种外科工具，用于将软植入物和生物材料输送到伤口部位和所需的器官。目前的方法受到生物材料设计的限制，生物材料的设计导致对宿主组织的不充分僵硬和低粘附性，以及针头注射不足以处理大的空洞，如手术切除的肿瘤区域。这项拟议的技术可以方便、快速和更可控地输送用于组织重建手术的多组分生物材料。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，并缩短麻醉暴露的时间。它可以通过为所有重建手术提供快速的功能植入物而转化为其他临床应用。这个i-Corps项目将推进一种可定制的手持生物打印机的翻译，这种打印机允许在原位沉积自我修复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。这种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，所提出的技术利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大小的手持生物打印机的添加剂制造工具。该设备将生物材料同时挤压成多层同心层的钝针，其中选择针头的长度来控制生物印刷结构上的运动和分配。这项技术的优势包括用于混合多组分生物材料的模块化混合室，可用于外科机器人/工具的灵活、符合人体工程学的手柄，对组织部位上多组分生物材料沉积的显著控制水平，以及对难以触及的组织的高纵横比。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

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.