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RESEARCH ARTICLE

The Technique of Thyroid Cartilage Scaffold Support

Formation for Extrusion-Based Bioprinting

N. V. Arguchinskaya , E. E. Beketov *, A. A. Kisel , E. V. Isaeva , E. O. Osidak , S. P. Domogatsky ,
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N. V. Mikhailovsky , F. E. Sevryukov , N. K. Silantyeva , T. A. Agababyan , S. A. Ivanov ,
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P. V. Shegay , A. D. Kaprin 4
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1 A. Tsyb MRRC – Branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian
Federation, Obninsk, Russia
2 Imtek Ltd., Moscow, Russia
3 Russian Cardiology Research and Production Center Federal State Budgetary Institution, Ministry of Health of the Russian
Federation, Moscow, Russia
4 National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Obninsk, Russia
Abstract: During biofabrication, a tissue scaffold may require temporary support. The aim of this study was to develop an
approach of human thyroid cartilage scaffold temporal support formation. The scaffold 3D-model was based on DICOM
images. XY plane projections were used to form scaffold supporting part. To verify the technique, collagen hydrogel was
chosen as the main scaffold component. Gelatin was applied for the supporting part. To test the applicability of the approach,
a model of thyroid cartilage scaffold with the support was printed. The scaffold corresponded to a given model, although some
discrepancy in geometry was observed during verification by computed tomography.
Keywords: Computer-aided design/Computer-aided manufacturing; 3D-bioprinting; Cartilage; Collagen; Gelatin

*Correspondence to: E. E. Beketov, A. Tsyb MRRC – Branch of the National Medical Research Radiological Center of the Ministry of Health of the
Russian Federation, Obninsk, Russia; beketov.ee@yandex.ru

Received: January 18, 2021; Accepted: March 5, 2021; Published Online: April 12, 2021
Citation: Arguchinskaya NV, Beketov EE, Kisel AA, et al., 2021, The Technique of Thyroid Cartilage Scaffold Support
Formation for Extrusion-Based Bioprinting. Int J Bioprint, 7(2):348. http://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v7i2.348

1. Introduction Furthermore, сell-laden hydrogel should have elasticity
in a narrow range that provides not only cell survival
Tissue engineering is based on the use of a scaffold but also helps to direct cell differentiation in a certain
loaded with cells and growth factors. Bioprinting is a way [3-5] . It requires the cell-laden material to be both soft
good choice for biofabrication of scaffolds with complex for the cells and rigid to maintain the geometry. Sometimes
or customized geometry. The technology includes not the condition is achievable. Gelation as well as cross-
only different types of material dispensing (extrusion-, linking processes caused by either ultraviolet (UV)-light,
inkjet-, and laser-based fabrication) but also a number temperature or pH shift take time, and more accurate
of accompanying techniques, such as the use of medical bioprinting is ensured by hydrogels in the form of high
imaging data (computed tomography [CT] and magnetic viscous liquid or gel in its early sol-gel stage [6-9] . In both
resonance imaging) for the scaffold model creation. The cases, additional material support during biofabrication
ability to reproduce both internal structure and external may be necessary.
geometry of the organ or tissue, mimicking native ones Bioprinting is a promising approach for restoration
is a key advantage of the approach [1,2] . One of the main of many types of tissues, including cartilage. The human
challenges in bioprinting is related to the materials. thyroid cartilage is a good model to verify a new bioprinting
Bioprinting requires that a biomaterial provides the technique. The cartilage has a complex geometry with
scaffold with stability during and after the printing. overhanging elements. Its printing process requires the use

© 2021 Arguchinskaya, et al. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), permitting all non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
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