Collagen is a vital functional material in the human body, providing structural support for cells and tissues, and participating in cell signaling and tissue repair. In the field of organ manufacturing, collagen can serve as a scaffold material, providing a framework for cell attachment and growth, thus promoting the reconstruction and repair of tissues and organs. However, due to the pronounced soft properties of collagen, achieving high-precision structural processing has been extremely challenging, greatly limiting the application of collagen materials in the field of organ manufacturing.
Illustration of the Manufacturing Process and Neuroregenerative Repair Achievements of Collagen Scaffold
In response to this issue, the Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences collaborated with the First Affiliated Hospital of the PLA Air Force Medical University to develop a high-precision bio-3D printing platform for constructing collagen nerve scaffolds with integrated structures and chemical guidance cues. The related findings were published under the title "Quantitative biofabrication platform for collagen-based peripheral nerve grafts with structural and chemical guidance" in Advanced Healthcare Materials, a top-tier journal of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and were featured as the front cover article.
The research team addressed the biomimetic manufacturing needs for high-density microchannel-guided structures in natural nerve tissues by proposing methods for identifying the viscoelastic model of collagen hydrogels and analyzing interface assembly. To meet the requirements for guiding long-distance axonal regeneration, they developed a dual-component high-precision dispensing control model for collagen hydrogels, thus establishing a quantitative manufacturing platform for collagen tissue engineering scaffolds that includes both structural and chemical elements.
Using this quantitative manufacturing platform, the team constructed collagen nerve tissues with dual guidance. After implantation into rats with sciatic nerve transection for 12 weeks, various indicators including the Sciatic Function Index (SFI) and Compound Muscle Action Potential (CMAP) suggested significant recovery of both motor and sensory functions in the lower limbs of the rats.
This research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Youth Team Project in the Field of Basic Research Supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Robotics Research Lab)
