Numerical modeling of hydrogel scaffold anisotropy during extrusion-based 3D printing for tissue engineering
Résumé
Extrusion-based 3D printing is a widely utilized tool in tissue engineering, offering precise 3D control of bioinks to construct organ-sized biomaterial objects with hierarchically organized cellularized scaffolds. The internal organization of scaffold constituents must replicate the structural anisotropy of the targeted tissue to effectively promote cellular behavior during 3D cell culture. The choice of polymers in the bioink and extrusion process topological properties significantly impact tissue engineering constructs' structural anisotropy and cellular response. Our study employed a hydrogel bioink consisting of fibrinogen, alginate, and gelatin, providing biocompatibility, printability, and shape retention post-printing. Topological properties in flowing polymers are determined by macromolecule conformation, namely orientation and stretch degree. We utilized the micro-macro approach to describe hydrogel macromolecule orientation during extrusion, offering a two-scale fluid behavior description. The study aimed to use the Fokker-Planck equation to represent constituent population (polymer chain) state within a hydrogel's representative elementary volume during extrusion-based 3D printing. Our findings indicate that a high shear rate drives constituent orientation in tubular nozzle syringe setups, overcoming fluid rheological behavior. Additionally, the interaction coefficient (C_i), representing microscopic fluid particle interaction, surpasses hydrogel behavior for constituent orientation prediction. This approach provides an initial but robust framework to model scaffold anisotropy, enabling optimization of the extrusion process while maintaining computational feasibility.
Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
---|