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    Tissue Engineering

    (K-408) Creating Sugar Glass Constructs Using 3D Printed Molds for Use in Models of Vascularization

    Thursday, October 12, 2023
    9:30 AM – 10:30 AM PDT
    Location: Exhibit Hall - Row K - Poster # 408

      Presenting Author(s)

    • AT

      Aiden Theobald

      Student
      Trine University, United States

      • Co-Author(s)

    • Christian Mendiondo

      PhD student
      The University of Texas at San Antonio, United States

      • Primary Investigator(s)

    • EB

      Eric Brey

      Department Chair
      University of Texas at San Antonio, United States

      • Last Author(s)

    • AQ

      Amina Qutub

      BravE Program Coordinator
      UTSA, United States

    Introduction:: Tissue engineering has transformed how we study and treat many different ailments, and the continued improvement of tissue-engineered fabrications is paramount for the success of those treatments. However, the major problem with the increasing size and complexity of engineered tissues is providing sufficient oxygen and blood supply. Sugar glass has emerged as a promising sacrificial material that can facilitate the creation of functional vascular networks within engineered tissues. In the following paragraphs, we introduce a novel technique to create sugar glass constructs that can be used in the future to develop functional models of vasculature.
     


    Materials and Methods:: Sugar glass was produced using a combination of DI water, glucose, sucrose and dextran, Vascular channel molds in Figure 1A were designed in Fusion 360 and 3D printed with Formlabs High-Temperature Resin. Molten sugar glass was injected into the resin molds and left to solidify, as illustrated in Figure 2A. After being removed from the mold, sugar glass cylinders were placed in the channels, as shown in Figure 2B.
     


    Results, Conclusions, and Discussions:: Sugar glass was successfully prepared and injected into 4 mm vascular channel molds. The resulting 4mm sugar glass cylinder was extracted from the mold and placed on its channel as shown in Figure 2A. Table 1 demonstrates our ability to accurately create 3D sugar glass structures within .06 mm of the diameter in the original CAD model.

    Here, we demonstrate the successful creation of sugar glass vascular channel constructs by injecting sugar glass into custom 3D printed molds. In the future, this technique will be implemented to achieve smaller and more complex constructs that are representative of vasculature in vivo. Fibrin will also be injected around the sugar glass and water will be used to dissolve the sugar glass construct – this will leave a functional 3D channel within the fibrin hydrogel. These functional 3D channels will be embedded with endothelial cells and act as vascular models.


    Acknowledgements (Optional): :

    This research was supported, in part, by the NSF EEC-1852560.



    References (Optional): :