Microfluidic Approach for the Scalable Formation of 3D Soft Materials with Tailored Biomechanical Properties for Tissue Engineering Applications

Through evolution, nature has defined materials in a highly organized and hierarchical fashion, with a complex organization on the nano and microscale that is closely linked to the different tissues and organs function. A variety of macroscale parameters such as mechanical strength, elasticity, and permeability to various molecules are tissue-specific and are a direct result of their intricate structural organization. The field of tissue engineering has seen the development of a broad range of technologies with the common goal of enabling the generation of complex tissues that mimic the intricate architecture and resulting properties of natural tissues. The methods developed so far are promising but are faced with short-comings in terms of scalability, throughput, and dynamic control over the local material composition and properties. These strategies are often limited in size (Ph.D.2017-06-08 00:00:0