Fabrication of collagen gel fiber films utilizing PELID method

Abstract

In recent years, a higher level of medical technology has been required. One such technology is regenerative medicine. In regenerative medicine, much research has been done on stem cells. Likewise, much research has been done on scaffold fabrication techniques. Ink-jet techniques have attracted attention as a method of fabrication of a three-dimensional scaffold. However, scaffolds fabricated by ink-jet techniques require further research. In this study, we have fabricated a highly biocompatible scaffold utilizing an ink-jet technique. The fabrication utilized an electrostatic ink-jet technology called the PELID method. Micro-fiber scaffolds must be suitable for the growth of cells, and film thickness must also be able to be controlled by a few microns. The scaffolds that we have fabricated were designed to satisfy these two requirements, using collagen. We fabricated the scaffolds in spinning mode, which is one of the ink-jet modes. When an applied voltage was high, the diameter of fibers narrowed and film thickness became uniform. In addition, we layered a film of this collagen (scaffold) on MDCK cells, and the cells grew well. We demonstrated that it is possible to fabricate scaffolds with a high biocompatibility by using this method. In the future, we hope to fabricate simple layered body tissue by applying this method.