3D Printed Anatomical Nerve Regeneration Pathways

Blake N Johnson; Karen Z Lancaster; Gehua Zhen; Junyun He; Maneesh K Gupta; Yong Lin Kong; Esteban A Engel; Kellin D Krick; Alex Ju; Fanben Meng; Lynn W Enquist; Xiaofeng Jia; Michael C McAlpine

doi:10.1002/adfm.201501760

3D Printed Anatomical Nerve Regeneration Pathways

Adv Funct Mater. 2015 Oct 21;25(39):6205-6217. doi: 10.1002/adfm.201501760. Epub 2015 Sep 18.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, United States.
² Department of Molecular Biology and Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States.
³ Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States.
⁵ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States.
⁶ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States.
⁷ Department of Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201, United States, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, United States.
⁸ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, United States, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States.

Abstract

An imaging-coupled 3D printing methodology for the design, optimization, and fabrication of a customized nerve repair technology for complex injuries is presented. The custom scaffolds are deterministically fabricated via a microextrusion printing principle which enables the simultaneous incorporation of anatomical geometries, biomimetic physical cues, and spatially controlled biochemical gradients in a one-pot 3D manufacturing approach.

Keywords: 3D printing; 3D scanning; nerve regeneration; neural engineering; tissue engineering.

Abstract

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