更广泛使用3D生物打印面临的挑战是3D打印结构的墨水范围。藻酸盐是从棕色海藻或藻类类型中提取的，构成了用于生物互联开发的材料的大小底部。当与其他材料结合使用时，可以改善藻酸盐性能，以变得更坚固或对细胞更具吸引力。最近的布里斯托大学的研究结合藻酸盐与合成聚合物多头发素结合起来，使新的生物与‘offers a multitude of advantages for bioprinting, compared to single-component gel systems’.即印刷品的高分辨率及其产生自然忠实细胞结构的能力。
A closer look at the materials
pluronicis a BASF brand name for a type of block copolymers, based on a combination of ethylene oxide gas, and propylene oxide liquid. There are many different types of Pluronic and these materials are commonly used as agents within other products to thicken, and disperse molecules, amongst other things. In this research, Pluronic was used due to its ability to form a gel when heated for extrusion. BASF are also developing materials for HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printer.
The researchers were able to 3D print a sacrificial structure in the Pluronic/alginate hybrid polymer that saw the Pluronic dissolve from the structure, as Adam W. Perriman, the corresponding author of the paper says:
对我们来说，真正令人惊讶的是当引入细胞营养时，合成聚合物完全从3D结构中排出，仅留下干细胞和天然海藻聚合物。反过来，这在结构中产生了微观孔，从而为干细胞提供了更有效的营养通道。
Alginateis used frequently in bioengineering for‘several essential properties’正如阿尔伯特·里斯扎德·利伯斯基（Albert Ryszard Liberski）概述的QscienceConnect的藻酸盐的审查。这些属性包括‘它的能力，当溶解时增加水溶液的粘度''which is especially important for 3D printing extrusion, and that an alginate requires no heat to form a gel.
Other 3D bioprinting applications
Previously, we have seen the佛罗里达大学将藻酸盐与丝绸蛋白结合在一起to 3D print veins. Otherinks created at Harvard Universityadd plastics and glucose into the bioink mix. Ultimately, the goal of these mixtures is to create structures suitable for replacing living tissue and organs for both testing and transplant purposes.
The team used a MendelMax 2.0 RepRap 3D printer to make the structures by modifying the print head, and successfully produced a full sized ear, nose and hollow squares representing cartilage and bone. After a period of 5 weeks, all the structures were able to retain their shape, suggesting that they would be suitable for further research.
Featured image shows brown seaweed under the sea. Photo via: vsprotista on weebly
