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IOP Publishing, Biofabrication, 1(9), p. 015020, 2017

DOI: 10.1088/1758-5090/aa585e

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Surface acoustic waves induced micropatterning of cells in gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels

This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

Acoustic force patterning is an emerging technology that provides a platform to control the spatial location of cells in a rapid, accurate, yet contactless manner. However, very few studies have been reported on the usage of acoustic force patterning for the rapid arrangement of biological objects, such as cells, in a three-dimensional (3D) environment. In this study, we report on a bio-acoustic force patterning technique, which uses surface acoustic waves (SAWs) for the rapid arrangement of cells within an extracellular matrix-based hydrogel such as gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA). A proof-of-principle was achieved through both simulations and experiments based on the in-house fabricated piezoelectric SAW transducers, which enabled us to explore the effects of various parameters on the performance of the built construct. The SAWs were applied in a fashion that generated standing SAWs (SSAWs) on the substrate, the energy of which subsequently was transferred into the gel, creating a rapid, and contactless alignment of the cells (