Additional Funding Sources
The project described was supported by the National Science Foundation via the Research Experience for Undergraduates Site: Materials for Society (Award Nos. DMR 1658076 and 1950305) and by Boise State University.
Presentation Date
7-2021
Abstract
Tissue engineering (TE) is a regenerative treatment that focuses on restoring, maintaining, and improving damaged tissues and organs. One of the ailments that can be treated through TE are musculoskeletal disorders, which are injuries or disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and spinal disks. An estimated 1 in 2 adults will be affected by a musculoskeletal disorder in their lifetime. Beyond this, TE can also be used to address the organ shortage crisis in the world. In the US alone, 110,000 people are on the organ transplant waiting list, with another person added every 10 minutes. Generally conditions such as this are treated through several expensive surgeries and organ transplants when organs become available. This project looks at filling the gaps in TE today and to create patient specific tissues and organs by controlling bioscaffold parameters through direct light processing (DLP) bioprinting. The goal of this work is to develop a compatible bioink for the DLP LumenX bioprinter in order to print porous bioscaffolds, control the mechanical and material properties of these scaffolds through ink formulation and scaffold design, and benchmark them to previous work done using graphene foam as a scaffold.
Bioscaffold Synthesis for Musculoskeletal Tissue Engineering
Tissue engineering (TE) is a regenerative treatment that focuses on restoring, maintaining, and improving damaged tissues and organs. One of the ailments that can be treated through TE are musculoskeletal disorders, which are injuries or disorders of the muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage, and spinal disks. An estimated 1 in 2 adults will be affected by a musculoskeletal disorder in their lifetime. Beyond this, TE can also be used to address the organ shortage crisis in the world. In the US alone, 110,000 people are on the organ transplant waiting list, with another person added every 10 minutes. Generally conditions such as this are treated through several expensive surgeries and organ transplants when organs become available. This project looks at filling the gaps in TE today and to create patient specific tissues and organs by controlling bioscaffold parameters through direct light processing (DLP) bioprinting. The goal of this work is to develop a compatible bioink for the DLP LumenX bioprinter in order to print porous bioscaffolds, control the mechanical and material properties of these scaffolds through ink formulation and scaffold design, and benchmark them to previous work done using graphene foam as a scaffold.