Inkjet Printing for Biomimetic and Biomedical Materials

Abstract

Growth of biological tissues often occurs by a layer of cells building new tissue layer-by-layer. Each new layer is the result of the reaction between a series of reagents and catalysts expressed by the cell layer. The nozzles of inkjet printheads have dimensions similar to those of cells and so it is possible to imagine a versatile inkjet printer also building tissues by depositing a series of drops of various reagents. This paper describes preliminary tests of this approach, the use of inkjet printing to form lines and layers of polymers, reaction between successive drops to produce layers of gels about 100nm thick, addition of enzymes into these gels and there use to produce mineralized structures.