Page 317 - IJB-9-1

International Journal of Bioprinting

RESEARCH ARTICLE
Effect of sterilization processes on alginate/

gelatin inks for three-dimensional printing

Teresa Carranza , Martin Zalba-Balda , Mari Jose Barriola Baraibar ,
1,2
3
3,4
Koro de la Caba *, Pedro Guerrero 1,5,6 *
1,5
1 BIOMAT Research Group, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Escuela de Ingeniería de
Gipuzkoa, Plaza de Europa 1, Donostia-San Sebastián, 20018, Spain
2 Domotek SL, Bº Santa Luzia 17, Tolosa, 20400, Spain
3 Tknika, Basque VET Applied Research Centre, Barrio Zamalbide s/n, Errenteria, 20100, Spain
4 University of Mondragon (MU), Faculty of Engineering (MGEP), Loramendi 4, Arrasate-Mondragon,
20500, Spain
5 BCMaterials, Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, UPV/EHU Science
Park, Leioa, 48940, Spain
6 Proteinmat Materials SL, Avenida de Tolosa 72, Donostia-San Sebastián, 20018, Spain
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in the Application of 3D Printing in Medicine and Dentistry)

Abstract

Sterilization is a crucial step in the process of developing bioinks for tissue
engineering applications. In this work, alginate/gelatin inks were subjected to three
† These authors contributed equally sterilization methods: ultraviolet (UV) radiation, filtration (FILT), and autoclaving
to this work. (AUTO). In addition, to simulate the sterilization effect in a real environment, inks
were formulated in two different media, specifically, Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle’s
*Corresponding author:
Pedro Guerrero Medium (DMEM) and phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). First, rheological tests
(pedromanuel.guerrero@ehu.es) were performed to evaluate the flow properties of the inks, and we observed
Koro de la Caba that UV samples showed shear thinning behavior, which was favorable for three-
(koro.delacaba@ehu.es)
dimensional (3D) printing. Furthermore, the 3D-printed constructs developed with
Citation: Carranza T, Zalba- UV inks showed better shape and size fidelity than those obtained with FILT and
Balda M, Barriola Baraibar MJ,
et al., 2023, Effect of sterilization AUTO. In order to relate this behavior to the material structure, Fourier transform
processes on alginate/gelatin inks infrared (FTIR) analysis was carried out and the predominant conformation in protein
for three-dimensional printing. Int J was determined by deconvolution of the amide I band, which confirmed that the
Bioprint, 9(1): 645
https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v9i1.645 prevalence of a-helix structure was greater for UV samples. This work highlights the
relevance of sterilization processes, which are essential for biomedical applications,
Received: July 11, 2022
Accepted: October 11, 2022 in the research field of bioinks.
Published Online: November 23,
2022
Keywords: Inks; Three-dimensional printing; Constructs; Sterilization
Copyright: © 2022 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution 1. Introduction
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is Many studies have been carried out to address the complexity of tissue engineering in
properly cited.
regenerative medicine [1–3] . In this regard, bioprinting technologies, defined as controlled
Publisher’s Note: Whioce deposition of biological materials to form living structures or structures that will host
Publishing remains neutral with [4–6]
regard to jurisdictional claims in biological components, called scaffolds, are gaining much attention . In this context,
published maps and institutional it is necessary to approach several perspectives to test the models developed. However,
affiliations..

Volume 9 Issue 1 (2023) 309 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.v9i1.645