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Publications in Scientific Journals:

X.H. Qin, A. Ovsianikov, J. Stampfl, R. Liska:
"Additive manufacturing of photosensitive hydrogels for tissue engineering applications";
BioNanoMaterials, 15 (2014), 3-4; 49 - 70.



English abstract:
Hydrogels are extensively explored as scaffolding
materials for 2D/3D cell culture and tissue engineering.
Owing to the substantial complexity of tissues, it is
increasingly important to develop 3D biomimetic hydrogels
with user-defined architectures and controllable biological
functions. To this end, one promising approach is
to utilize photolithography-based additive manufacturing
technologies (AMTs) in combination with photosensitive
hydrogels. We here review recent advances in photolithography-
based additive manufacturing of 3D hydrogels
for tissue engineering applications. Given the importance
of materials selection, we firstly give an overview of
water-soluble photoinitiators for single- and two-photon
polymerization, photopolymerizable hydrogel precursors
and light-triggered chemistries for hydrogel formation.
Through the text we discuss the design considerations
of hydrogel precursors and synthetic approaches to polymerizable
hydrogel precursors of synthetic and natural origins.
Next, we shift to how photopolymerizable hydrogels
could integrate with photolithography-based AMTs for
creating well-defined hydrogel structures. We illustrate
the working-principles of both single- and two-photon
lithography and case studies of their applications in tissue
engineering. In particular, two-photon lithography
is highlighted as a powerful tool for 3D functionalization/
construction of hydrogel constructs with μm-scale
resolution. Within the text we also explain the chemical
reactions involved in two-photon-induced biofunctionalization
and polymerization. In the end, we summarize the
limitations of available hydrogel systems and photolithography-
based AMTs as well as a future outlook on potential
optimizations.


"Official" electronic version of the publication (accessed through its Digital Object Identifier - DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/bnm-2014-0008


Created from the Publication Database of the Vienna University of Technology.