A Novel System for Fabricating Microspheres with Microelectromechanical System-Based Bioprinting Technology

Yifeng Xu; Bao Jiang; Fangfang Liu; Hua Zhang; Dan Li; Xiaohui Tang; Xiuming Yang; Yan Sheng; Xuanye Wu; Nan Shi

doi:10.34133/bmef.0076

A Novel System for Fabricating Microspheres with Microelectromechanical System-Based Bioprinting Technology

BME Front. 2024 Nov 20:5:0076. doi: 10.34133/bmef.0076. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Yifeng Xu^{1

2}, Bao Jiang^{1

2}, Fangfang Liu², Hua Zhang³, Dan Li², Xiaohui Tang⁴, Xiuming Yang², Yan Sheng⁵, Xuanye Wu^{1

2}, Nan Shi^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ School of Microelectronics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200000, China.
² Shanghai Industrial μ Technology Research Institute, Shanghai 200000, China.
³ Suzhou Silicon jet Microelectronics Co. Ltd., Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215000, China.
⁴ Ruijin Hospital Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200000, China.
⁵ Institute of Translational Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200000, China.

Abstract

Objective and Impact Statement: The microspheres were widely utilized in the field of life sciences, and we have developed an innovative microelectromechanical system (MEMS)-based bioprinting technology (MBT) system for the preparation of the microspheres. The microspheres can be automatically and high-throughput produced with this cutting-edge system. Introduction and Methods: This paper mainly introduced a novel, efficient, and cost-effective approach for the microsphere fabrication with the MBT system. In this work, the whole microsphere production equipment was built and the optimal conditions (like concentration, drying temperature, frequency, and voltage) for generating uniform hydroxypropyl cellulose-cyclosporine A (HPC-CsA) and poly-l-lactic acid (PLLA) microspheres were explored. Results: Results demonstrated that the optimal uniformity of HPC-CsA microspheres was achieved at 2% (w/v) HPC-CsA mixture, 45 °C (drying temperature), 1,000 Hz (frequency), and 25 V (voltage amplitude). CsA microspheres [coefficient of variation (CV): ~9%] are successfully synthesized, and the drug encapsulation rate was 84.8%. The methodology was further used to produce PLLA microspheres with a diameter of ~2.55 μm, and the best CV value achieved 6.84%. Conclusion: This investigation fully highlighted the integration of MEMS and bioprinting as a promising tool for the microsphere fabrication, and this MBT system had huge potential applications in pharmaceutical formulations and medical aesthetics.