Donald Bejleri

Donald Bejleri

Feb 01, 2016

Group 6 Copy 157
0

Optimization of 3D-Printed Parts

I have printed several parts (called scaffolds in tissue engineering) to find the best geometry and size to test for tissue growth. For spinal cord repair, it is important to create channels that allow for the neurons to spread their axons (which are the long parts of the cells that transmit information from cell to cell in neural tissue). The great part of the 3D printer is that it can create shapes that are tailored to fit the patients spine defect. However, for these projects I have found that printing out cylinder scaffolds is best, as they fit in the test dishes to grow the cells and their channel size can be changed.

For imaging, I have made very thin cylinders (they are essentially disks) so that the cells can be seen under the microscope, roughly 0.1 mm tall and 5 mm in diameter. The imaging is key, as the markers that the cells show can tell us about the cell type and healthiness during the experiments. Once the cells are growing into tissue during the experiments, I will print larger scaffolds to assess their effectiveness.

Next Step - Adding Cells!

0 comment

Join the conversation!Sign In

About This Project

Medical treatments for spinal cord injuries are expensive and difficult to test. I want to try to develop a prototype to regenerate damaged spinal cord tissue using a cheap and patient-specific 3D-printed device. This would combine affordable materials and stem cells to help pateints suffering from paralysis and other spinal problems.

Blast off!

Browse Other Projects on Experiment

Related Projects

Building a low-cost DIY bioreactor system for sustainable microbial cultivation

Our project aims to develop a food-grade, low-cost, bubble column bioreactor system for easy and sustainable...

Goodbye Bioethanol! Time For Affordable Biogasoline and Biodiesel!

While bioethanol continues to possibly replace a significant portion of gasoline and diesel as transportation...

What’s the largest achievable expansion ratio for an amateur rocket engine?

Nozzle flow separation is a condition where exhaust gases in a rocket nozzle cause severe pressure fluctuations...

Backer Badge Funded

Add a comment