AVS 51st International Symposium
    Biomaterial Interfaces Wednesday Sessions
       Session BI1-WeM

Paper BI1-WeM8
Engineering of Functional Three Dimensional Cell Structures by Inkjet Printing

Wednesday, November 17, 2004, 10:40 am, Room 210D

Session: Cell-Surface Interactions
Presenter: T. Boland, Clemson University
Authors: T. Boland, Clemson University
P. Kesari, Clemson University
T. Xu, Clemson University
D. Varghese, Southampton General Hospital
Correspondent: Click to Email
Tissues and organs exhibit distinct shapes and functions nurtured by vascular connectivity. In order to mimic and examine these intricate structure-function relationships, it is necessary to develop efficient strategies for assembling tissue-like constructs. Many of the top-down fabrication techniques used to build microelectromechanical systems including photolithography are attractive due to the similar feature sizes, but are not suitable for delicate biological systems or aqueous environments. A bottom-up approach using inkjet printers has been proposed to pattern functional cell structures in three dimensions. The freeform cell structures created by the inkjet method are viable and show mature character as exemplified by the contractile responses of smooth muscle cell tubes. These results show promise of the inkjet method for vascular tissue engineering and other applications.