A new method for 3D printing soft silicones enables precise, strong, and functional replicas of human anatomy to be created. Recently published in Science!
You can find many of our published and unpublished movies below.
A 3D bioprinted immunotherapy model in which tumor cells (green) and T cells (red) can be deposited with spatial control, monitored in time-lapse, then collected for biochemical analysis. Recently published in Bioprinting!
Microbeams made from cells and collagen-1 contract and buckle in response to the forces applied by the cells within. Recently published in Nature Communications!
Mounting our 3D printer onto a fluorescence microscope, looking up at the needle, we see that tiny structures about as thick as a human hair can be printed out of living MCF10A cells. Recently published in ACS Biomat Sci & Eng!
Immiscibility between printed structures and the microgel support material can lead to destabilizing interfacial instabilities. To study these instabilities, we 3D print lines of neat silicone oil into a mineral-oil based micro-organogel support and observe their behavior over time. The stability of the 3D printed object is set by the feature size of the line and the yield stress of the surrounding support material.
Micro-organogel made through the self-assembly of block copolymers in mineral enable 3D printing of silicone structures. Here, we demonstrate this process by printing a thin walled silicone tube with an undulating radius.
Once printed, the silicone structures can be cured and removed from the micro-organogel support material. We demonstrate the integrity of the printed silicone structures by pumping water through a tubular network.
The jammed micro-organogels provide support for silicone structures in 3D space without the need of additional structural support allowing silicone structures to be embedded within other printed structures. We demonstrate the application of this design principle by printing a silicone pump with an encapsulated ball valve. After curing, the pump is removed from the micro-organogel support and is capable of pumping fluid from one reservoir to another.
Tapomoy discusses his recent work investigating the behavior of cells suspendeded in liquid-like solids. Find the full paper in ACS Biomaterials!
Cells float in space, supported by invisible packed granular microgel particles. The physical forces associated with cell division are large enough to push the microgels apart, creating new space for the separating daughter cells. Recently published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering!!
This time-lapse was taken on an inverted laser scanning confocal microscope. The MCF10A cells can generate enough force to push their way through the invisible soft granular microgel material that surrounds them. Recently published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering!!
MCF10A cells embedded in LLS 3D growth media extend long filapodia, pushing through the invisible packed microgels. Recently published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering!!
Cells in LLS 3D growth medium can generate sufficient force to fluctuate in shape, push through the jammed microgel material that surrounds them to interact with one another. Recently published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering!!
Cancer spheroids 3D printed directly into liquid-like solid growth media and monitored in time-lapse. This assay can be employed to do spheroid culture and screening of a patient's cells for personalized medicine applications. Recently published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering!!
Uptake of dyes simulates potential assay for combinatorial drug screening. Liver spheroids were 3D printed in an array near dye-eluting polymer films. Recently published in ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering!!
Writing in the granular gel medium allows for complex structures to be generated without the restrictions associated with ink solidification. The hanging parts of the knot can be printed before the parts that support them because they need no support with this method. Recently published in Science Advances!!
3D writing into liquid-like solids made from granular hydrogel particles allows complex paths to be followed while making nested thin-shelled structures. The Matryoshka dolls shown here have smooth curved shapes, sharp corners, and seamless joining between bases and tops as they are printed one piece at a time. Recently published in Science Advances!!
A printing nozzle is mounted on a microscope and translated through a granular gel writing medium (green) while injecting a linear trace of fluorescent particles (red). This video allows us to see what 3D printing into a granular gel looks like at the microscopic scale as it happens. Recently published in Science Advances!!
MDCK cell Tracking. MDCK cells are imaged in time-lapse on a microscope. Cells are tracked automatically by simultaneously imaging only their fluorescent nuclei. Cell centers are used to compute a Voronoi tessellation of space, measuring the approximate projected area of each cell. The real-time duration is approximately 4 hours. Movie plays through two times. Recently published in Biophys. J.!!
MDCK cell volume fluctuations. Colors correspond to instantaneous size. When cells are small, they appear with violet and blue hues. When cells are large, they appear with yellow and orange hues. Cells are approximately 30 microns across, and the real-time duration is about 4 hours. Movie plays through two times.Recently published in Biophys. J.!!
B. subtilis biofilm / EPS matrix production. Bacillus subtilis 3610, brightfield /fluorescence overlay. Field of view is ~1cm, duration is about 24 hours. 9x9 micrographs stitched together. Cells express PtapA-YFP reporters. Fluorescence is a measure of EPS matrix production. Recently published in NJP!
Just some old data to throw on our website. MDCK on collagen coated glass bottom petri dishes. 1 minute per frame, 266 frames.
Resurrection ferns closing and opening. We mounted a canon digital camera to a live oak limb. CHDK firmware controls the camera. We wrote a custom time-lapse script to capture images. Movie duration ~24 hours. Movie repeats once.
We were taking time lapse movies of christmas wreath lichens when we saw one of them walking around! Lichens aren't supposed to walk around. It turns out that this little bug covers itself in lichen to get around and avoid being eaten by predators. Cool! (Location: Sapelo island, Georgia)
Taking time-lapse movies of christmas wreath lichens, we found that their moss and bark substrate substantially swelled up and contracted daily, probably caused by cycles of moistening and desiccation. (Location: Sapelo Island, Georgia)