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Materials Science in Additive Manufacturing

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
From 3D printed molds to bioprinted

scaffolds: A hybrid material extrusion and vat
polymerization bioprinting approach for soft

matter constructs

1†
1
1
Zainab N. Khan , Hamed I. Albalawi , Alexander U. Valle-Pérez , Ali Aldoukhi ,
1†
1
Noofa Hammad , Elena Herrera-Ponce de León , Sherin Abdelrahman ,
1
1
1,2
Charlotte A. E. Hauser *
1 Laboratory for Nanomedicine, Division of Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering,
King Abdullah University for Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955- 6900, Saudi Arabia
2 Computational Bioscience Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology,
Thuwal 23955, Saudi Arabia
Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting methods vary in difficulty and complexity
depending on the application desired and biomaterials used. 3D biofabrication is
gaining increased traction with enhanced additive manufacturing technologies.
† These authors contributed equally Yet, high print resolution and efficiency for the fabrication of complex constructs
to this work.
still prove to be challenging. An intricate balance between biomaterial
*Corresponding author: composition, machine maneuverability, and extrusion mechanism is required.
Charlotte A. E. Hauser (charlotte. While soft bioinks are highly desirable when used as a biodegradable scaffold
hauser@kaust.edu.sa)
material for tissue and organ fabrication, mechanical stiffness and shape fidelity
Citation: Khan ZN, Albalawi HI, are often compromised. Alternately, post-printing ultraviolet and chemical
Valle-Pérez AU, et al., 2022, From
3D printed molds to bioprinted crosslinking processes improve fidelity but threaten cell viability. Herein, we
scaffolds: A hybrid material propose a hybrid fabrication approach to facilitate 3D bioprinting using soft
extrusion and vat polymerization
bioprinting approach for soft matter bioinks with instantaneous gelation properties while maintaining shape fidelity
constructs. Mater Sci Add Manuf, for tissue and organ structures of complex geometries. The approach entails
1(1): 7. a multi-step “3D Printed Molds to Scaffolds” method, which uses additive
https://doi.org/10.18063/msam.v1i1.7
manufacturing to create accurate negative support structures for the desired
Received: March 4, 2022 construct. A tissue or organ model is first designed in computer-aided design
Accepted: March 11, 2022 (CAD) modeling software to create a negative mold structure of the desired tissue
or organ. Using a Formlabs® SLA 3D printer, the negative mold is fabricated at
Published Online: March 28, 2022
desired scale using a biocompatible elastic resin. Then, a robotic 3D bioprinting
Copyright: © 2022 Author(s). system is loaded with a sliced g-code of the CAD model. The robot start position
This is an Open Access article
distributed under the terms of the is aligned with the placement of the fabricated mold on the printbed. Microfluidic
Creative Commons Attribution pumps deliver three solutions through a customized nozzle to extrude peptide
License, permitting distribution, bioink, which gels instantaneously. The initial layers of the structure are formed
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is within the mold to create a solid foundation of the construct. The hybrid approach
properly cited. was found to enhance fidelity considerably and enabled the printing of a complex
Publisher’s Note: Whioce human ear structure. It is promising for tissue and organ fabrication as it offers
Publishing remains neutral with a cost-effective support structure without increasing printing time. It could also
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional be used as a rapid prototyping approach for researchers who do not have access
affiliations. to 3D bioprinting systems. Biofabrication, from printed molds to bioprinted

Volume 1 Issue 1 (2022) 1 https://doi.org/10.18063/msam.v1i1.7