3D Encapsulation Made Easy: A Coaxial-Flow Circuit for the Fabrication of Hydrogel Microfibers Patches.

ABSTRACT: To fully exploit the potential of hydrogel micro-fibers in the design of regenerative medicinal materials, we designed a simple, easy to replicate system for cell embedding in degradable fibrous scaffolds, and validated its effectiveness using alginate-based materials. For scaffold fabrication, cells are suspended in a hydrogel-precursor and injected in a closed-loop circuit, where a pump circulates the ionic cross-linking solution. The flow of the cross-linking solution stretches and solidifies a continuous micro-scaled, cell-loaded hydrogel fiber that whips, bends, and spontaneously assembles in a self-standing, spaghetti-like patch. After investigation and tuning of process- and solution-related parameters, homogeneous microfibers with controlled diameters and consistent scaffolds were

SUBMITTER: Campiglio CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6631674 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature