The Design and Construction of an Electrohydrodynamic Cartesian Robot for the Preparation of Tissue Engineering Constructs

In this work we bring together replicating rapid prototyping technology with electrohydrodynamic phenomena to develop a device with the ability to build structures in three-dimensions while simultaneously affording the user a degree of designing versatility and ease that is not seen in conventional computer numerically controlled machines. An attempt at reproducing an actual human ear using polycaprolactone was pursued to validate the hardware. Five different polycaprolactone solution concentrations between 7–15 wt% were used and printing was performed at applied voltages that ranged from 1 to 6 kV and at flow rates from 5µl/min to 60µl/min. The corresponding geometrical and aesthetic features of the printed constructs were studied to determine the effectiveness of the device. The 15 wt% concentration at 60µl/min under an applied electric field of 6 kV was identified as the best operating parameters to work with.

[1]  D. Hutmacher,et al.  Scaffolds in tissue engineering bone and cartilage. , 2000, Biomaterials.

[2]  B Brent,et al.  Technical advances in ear reconstruction with autogenous rib cartilage grafts: personal experience with 1200 cases. , 1999, Plastic and reconstructive surgery.

[3]  Charles A. Vacanti,et al.  Transplantation of Chondrocytes Utilizing a Polymer‐Cell Construct to Produce Tissue‐Engineered Cartilage in the Shape of a Human Ear , 1997, Plastic and reconstructive surgery.

[4]  Geoffrey Ingram Taylor,et al.  Electrically driven jets , 1969, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. A. Mathematical and Physical Sciences.

[5]  Hod Lipson,et al.  Direct Freeform Fabrication of Seeded Hydrogels in Arbitrary Geometries , 2022 .

[6]  Voltage effects on the nanoelectrospray characteristics in fully voltage-controlled atomisation of gold nanocolloids. , 2010, Analytica chimica acta.

[7]  John Zeleny,et al.  Instability of Electrified Liquid Surfaces , 1917 .

[8]  Wei Sun,et al.  Multi‐nozzle deposition for construction of 3D biopolymer tissue scaffolds , 2005 .

[9]  Ke Wang,et al.  Direct fabrication of electrically functional microstructures by fully voltage-controlled electrohydrodynamic jet printing of silver nano-ink , 2010 .

[10]  James J. Yoo,et al.  Hybrid printing of mechanically and biologically improved constructs for cartilage tissue engineering applications , 2012, Biofabrication.

[11]  S. Ramakrishna,et al.  Coaxial electrospinning of (fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated bovine serum albumin)-encapsulated poly(epsilon-caprolactone) nanofibers for sustained release. , 2006, Biomacromolecules.

[12]  J. Lewis,et al.  Direct writing in three dimensions , 2004 .

[13]  A. Mikos,et al.  Electrospun poly(epsilon-caprolactone) microfiber and multilayer nanofiber/microfiber scaffolds: characterization of scaffolds and measurement of cellular infiltration. , 2006, Biomacromolecules.

[14]  M. Miodownik,et al.  Print head design and control for electrohydrodynamic printing of silk fibroin. , 2013, Materials science & engineering. C, Materials for biological applications.

[15]  J. Rogers,et al.  Nanoscale patterns of oligonucleotides formed by electrohydrodynamic jet printing with applications in biosensing and nanomaterials assembly. , 2008, Nano letters.

[16]  Barry Berman,et al.  3D printing: the new industrial revolution , 2012, IEEE Engineering Management Review.

[17]  Jason A. Spector,et al.  High-Fidelity Tissue Engineering of Patient-Specific Auricles for Reconstruction of Pediatric Microtia and Other Auricular Deformities , 2013, PloS one.

[18]  Steve Johnson.  Why Not Just Let 'r Leak? , 2009 .

[19]  Michael C. McAlpine,et al.  3D Printed Bionic Ears , 2013, Nano letters.

[20]  I. Hayati,et al.  Investigations into the mechanisms of electrohydrodynamic spraying of liquids. I: Effect of electric field and the environment on pendant drops and factors affecting the formation of stable jets and atomization , 1987 .

[21]  Gideon Levy,et al.  RAPID MANUFACTURING AND RAPID TOOLING WITH LAYER MANUFACTURING (LM) TECHNOLOGIES, STATE OF THE ART AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES , 2003 .

[22]  Dazhi Wang,et al.  Instrument for electrohydrodynamic print-patterning three-dimensional complex structures , 2005 .