Measurement of the mechanical properties of 3D printed scaffolds using ElastoSens Bio

Rheolution是一家私营公司，为当前材料开发和表征方面的行业挑战提供创新解决方案。力拓为世界各地的客户提供高性价比和高附加值的工业质量和过程控制测试仪器，以及研发仪器。自2009年成立以来，该公司一直积极参与奶酪、食品和生物材料行业。特别是，Rheolution最近进入了组织工程和再生医学领域，其中生物工程组织类支架是由支架和细胞制成的，用于药物筛选和器官移植。近年来，三维(3D)打印作为一种精确控制生物材料、细胞和生物因子时空分布的方法已经成为一种很有前途的方法。然而，优化3D打印支架的力学性能仍然是一个重大挑战，因为包括使用张力机在内的传统方法具有破坏性，无法提供支架力学性能随时间变化的全貌。因此，这项合作研发计划的首要目标是使用Rheolution(ElastoBio Sens)开发的最先进的无损机械测试仪来测量3D打印细胞负载支架的机械性能。我们将使用结合生物印刷、材料科学和细胞生物学的多方面方法来开发测量由一系列生物墨水和细胞制成的细胞支架的机械性能的协议。这项技术将使Rhesion在不断增长的组织工程药物发现和器官移植市场上展开竞争。这项拟议的研究预计将为卑诗省、QC和加拿大带来显著的经济收益，因为目标技术适用于新兴的战略市场。这一领域的创新可以帮助降低与当前药物开发过程和基于细胞的疗法相关的成本，并改变健康和生命科学部门。

Rheolution is a private company that provides innovative solutions to current industrial challenges in materials development and characterization. Rheolution offers to customers around the world cost-effective and high added-value testing instruments for industrial quality and process control as well as research & development. The company has been actively involved in cheese, food and biomaterials industries since their incorporation in 2009. In particular, Rheolution has recently entered the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in which bioengineered tissue-like scaffolds are made from scaffolds and cells for drug screening and organ transplantation. Recently, three-dimensional (3D) printing has emerged as a promising method for precisely depositing biomaterials, cells, and biological factors with exquisite control on their spatiotemporal distribution. However, optimizing the mechanical properties of 3D-printed scaffolds has remained a significant challenge as conventional methods including the use of tensile machines are destructive and cannot provide the full picture of the variations in the mechanical properties of scaffolds over time. As such, the overarching goal of this collaborative research and development proposal is to use the state-of-the-art non-destructive mechanical tester developed by Rheolution (ElastoBio Sens) to measure the mechanical properties of 3D-printed cell-laden scaffolds. We will use a multifaceted approach that combines bioprinting, material sciences, and cell biology to develop protocols for measurement of mechanical properties of cell-laden scaffolds made from an array of bioinks and cells. This technology will allow Rheolution to compete in the ever-increasing market of tissue engineering for drug discovery and organ transplantation. The proposed research is anticipated to result in significant economic gains for BC, QC, and Canada since the targeted technology applies to an emerging and strategic market. Innovations in this area can help reduce the costs associated with current drug development processes and cell-based therapies and transform the health and life sciences sectors.