Page 285 - IJB-10-3

International

Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Design and optimization of 3D-bioprinted

cell-laden scaffolds in dynamic culture

Jing Li , Feng Chen , Meixia Wang , Xiaolong Zhu , Ning He , Na Li ,
1†
1
1
3
1†
2
Haotian Zhu , and Xiaoxiao Han *
1
1
1 National Engineering Research Centre for High Efficiency Grinding, Hunan University, Changsha,
Hunan, China
2 Department of Pharmacy, College of Biology, Hunan University, Changsha, Hunan, China
3 Radiology Department, The Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, Changsha, Hunan,
China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Special Issue of International Journal of Bioprinting in the
BDMC 2023 Conference)
Abstract
Light-based 3D printing enables the fabrication of biological scaffolds with high
precision, versatility and biocompatibility, particularly the cell-laden scaffolds
with architecturally complex geometric features. However, many bioprinted
tissue scaffolds suffer from low cell viability due to insufficient oxygen and
nutrient supply, which is heavily influenced by scaffold structure and cultivation
conditions. Current practice relies mainly on resource-intensive trial-and-error
methods to optimize scaffolds’ structures and cultivation parameters. In this study,
we developed a comprehensive multi-physics model integrating fluid dynamics,
oxygen mass transfer, cell oxygen consumption, and cell growth processes to
† These authors contributed equally
to this work. capture cell growth behaviors in scaffolds, establishing a robust theoretical
foundation for scaffold structure optimization. The modeling results showed that a
*Corresponding author:
Xiaoxiao Han large number of parameters, such as system inlet flow rate, geometric feature size,
(xiaoxiaohan@hnu.edu.cn) cell parameters, and material properties, significantly impact oxygen concentration
and cell growth within the scaffold. A two-step optimization strategy is proposed in
Citation: Li J, Chen F, Wang M,
et al. Design and optimization of this paper and was applied to obtain optimal geometric parameters of channeled
3D-bioprinted cell-laden scaffolds scaffolds to demonstrate the model’s effectiveness for scaffold optimization. The
in dynamic culture. Int J Bioprint. model can be employed for scaffolds with arbitrary shapes and various materials,
2024;10(3):1838.
doi: 10.36922/ijb.1838 facilitating the optimal design of sophisticated scaffolds for more advanced
tissue engineering.
Received: September 14, 2023
Accepted: November 29, 2023
Published Online: January 25, 2024
Keywords: Multi-physics model; Cell-laden scaffolds; Light-based bioprinting;
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s). Dynamic culturing; Scaffold structural design
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, 1. Introduction
provided the original work is
properly cited. Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting, also known as cell printing, is an advanced
Publisher’s Note: AccScience technology that allows the precise assembling of biocompatible materials, cells, or
Publishing remains neutral with bioactive factors, offering great capability in fabricating artificial constructs with complex
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional features that are necessary to achieve biomimetic morphology and microenvironments,
1-8
affiliations. and therefore appropriate biological functions. Light-cured 3D printing technology

Volume 10 Issue 3 (2024) 277 doi: 10.36922/ijb.1838