Aerosol-Based Direct-Write of Biological Materials for Biomedical Applications

Abstract

ABSTRACTApplying life sciences and engineering principles to the study of cells and engineered tissue has resulted in various successes. These endeavors are poised towards development of functional neo-organs used as native tissue substitutes. Concurrent with this goal, research arenas are directed in the general areas of biocompatible polymer scaffolds, biomimmetic extracellular matrices, control of stem cell differentiation, biomolecule signaling, and directed material delivery. Optomec Inc. is developing an aerosol-based direct-write process for deposition of biological materials into three dimensional, micron-scale patterns. The process uses pneumatic atomization to produce aerosol droplets of proteinacious colloidal dispersions and whole cell suspensions. The droplets are entrained in an air stream and deposited with a proprietary deposition tool. The biological materials can be seeded into three dimensional polymer scaffolds and various substrate surfaces. Optomec's direct write process has applicability to the additive fabrication of engineered tissue. Other applications of the direct write tool include rapid prototyping of analytical biosensors, hybrid BioMEMS, and bio-chip microarray devices.