Bioprinting is a major technological innovation that enables the additive manufacture of living bioinks into complex tissue structures. We are particularly interested in bottom-up bio-assembly for tissue engineering (Advanced Functional Materials 2020) and the development of new technologies and bioinks that expand the possibilities of bioprinting.
- In Situ Endothelialization: This study was led by Dr Liliang Ouyang during his postdoc at Imperial College London. We developed a void-free bioprinting method as a highly efficient, in-situ approach to endothelialization that avoided the need for post-seeding (Advanced Functional Materials 2020).
- 3D Printing “Unprintable” Hydrogel Bioinks: This study was led by Dr Liliang Ouyang during his postdoc at Imperial College London. We developed a new method that used the thermal gelation of gelatin to enable the bioprinting of conventionally “unprintable” hydrogel bioinks for cell culture and tissue engineering (Science Advances 2020).
- Droplet Interface Bilayers for High-resolution Bioprinting: This study was led by Dr Alex Graham during his DPhil at the University of Oxford, who printed cells within water-in-oil emulsions that formed droplet interface bilayers upon assembly, and demonstrated that this method could be used for high-resolution bioprinting (Scientific Reports 2017).
- Templating Bioinks: We used the thermal gelation of pluronic as a temporary guide for the printing of cellularized alginate hydrogels (Advanced Healthcare Materials 2016). We have since collaborated with the Scarpa Group to reinforce this bioink with flax fibres, that provide enhanced load-bearing and enable hygromorphic actuation (Soft Matter 2024).