Screen Printing Biological Tissue via Stencil
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for producing biological tissue through inkjet printing face challenges such as high mechanical stress on cells, reduced survival rates due to long production times, and inefficiencies in creating three-dimensional structures, which impede productivity and tissue quality.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing a printing screen or stencil to apply a printing medium containing living cells onto a substrate, which reduces mechanical stress and allows for rapid, multi-layered tissue creation with defined structures, enabling the production of biological tissue suitable for medical and pharmacological applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If inkjet printing is used to produce biological tissue, then 2-dimensional arrangements can be built up sequentially, but the cells are exposed to high mechanical loads and long production times reduce cell survival rate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical inkjet printing system with a screen printing system that uses a mesh screen and squeegee to transfer cells. This substitution reduces mechanical stress on cells by eliminating the high-pressure droplet ejection mechanism, thereby improving cell survival rate while maintaining ease of manufacture through the simpler screen printing process
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the mechanical parameters of the printing process by using a mesh screen with specific aperture sizes (5-50 μm) and a controlled squeegee pressure regime. These parameter changes reduce shear stress and mechanical load on cells during printing, improving cell survival while enabling parallel printing to reduce production time
2Shape
If inkjet printing is used to create three-dimensional structures, then production time increases significantly, but cell survival rate is negatively influenced due to limited cell division capacity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables three-dimensional tissue structure creation through stacked parallel printing in the same time frame by utilizing the screen printing process's ability to print multiple layers simultaneously across the substrate surface, eliminating the sequential layer-by-layer approach and significantly reducing production time while maintaining cell viability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a pre-prepared mesh screen with defined patterns and apertures that enable direct printing of complex three-dimensional structures in a single operation. This preliminary preparation of the printing template allows rapid deposition of multi-layered tissue structures without time-consuming sequential printing, reducing production time while preserving cell survival rate
3Object-affected harmful factors
If screen printing is used to print cells through a mesh screen, then mechanical stress on cells is reduced, but the mesh screen aperture size must be optimized to prevent cell damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the mesh screen aperture size parameter within the range of 5-50 μm to balance two competing requirements: small enough apertures to provide structural precision and pattern definition, while large enough to minimize mechanical stress and allow smooth cell passage. This parameter optimization reduces harmful mechanical stress on cells while maintaining manufacturing precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs different mesh screen aperture sizes in different regions or for different cell types, allowing local optimization of the printing process. Critical areas requiring high precision use smaller apertures, while areas requiring high cell survival use larger apertures, thereby simultaneously achieving both reduced mechanical stress and high printing precision
Data Source
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AI summary
Method for producing biological tissue, especially for medical treatment and/or for pharmacological investigations, in which a substrate for cell tissue is provided, in which a printing medium containing living cells is provided, in which the printing medium is printed onto the substrate through a printing screen and/or a printing stencil, and in which the printed cells develop into tissue through the printing and/or after the printing.