7 documents found, page 1 of 1
Microfluidic mixing system for precise PLGA-PEG nanoparticles size control
Gimondi, Sara; Guimarães, Carlos F.; Vieira, Sara Filipa Fontoura; Gonçalves, Virgínia M. F.; Tiritan, M. E.; Reis, R. L.In this study, a microfluidic device was employed to produce polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) with well-controlled sizes. The influence of several parameters in the synthesis process, namely, polymer concentration, flow rate and flow rate ratio between the aqueous and organic solutions was investigated. To evaluate the NPs size effect, three diameters were selected (30, 50 and 70 nm). Their cytocompatibility was d...
Pushing the natural frontier: Progress on the integration of biomaterial cues t...
Guimarães, Carlos F.; Marques, A. P.; Reis, R. L.The engineering of fully functional, biological-like tissues requires biomaterials to direct cellular events to a near-native, 3D niche extent. Natural biomaterials are generally seen as a safe option for cell support, but their biocompatibility and biodegradability can be just as limited as their bioactive/biomimetic performance. Furthermore, integrating different biomaterial cues and their final impact on cel...
Microfluidic-driven biofabrication and the engineering of cancer-like microenvi...
Guimarães, Carlos F.; Gasperini, Luca; Reis, R. L.Despite considerable advances in cancer research and oncological treatments, the burden of the disease is still extremely high. While past research has been cancer cell centered, it is now clear that to understand tumors, the models that serve as a framework for research and therapeutic testing need to improve and integrate cancer microenvironment characteristics such as mechanics, architecture, and cell hetero...
Engineering hydrogel-based biomedical photonics: design, fabrication, and appli...
Guimarães, Carlos F.; Ahmed, Rajib; Marques, A. P.; Reis, R. L.; Demirci, UtkanLight guiding and manipulation in photonics have become ubiquitous in events ranging from everyday communications to complex robotics and nanomedicine. The speed and sensitivity of lightâ matter interactions offer unprecedented advantages in biomedical optics, data transmission, photomedicine, and detection of multi-scale phenomena. Recently, hydrogels have emerged as a promising candidate for interfacing photo...
3D flow-focusing microfluidic biofabrication: one-chip-fits-all hydrogel fiber ...
Guimarães, Carlos F.; Gasperini, Luca; Marques, A. P.; Reis, R. L.The microfluidic manipulation of hydrogels is a powerful tool to recapitulate functional biological ar- chitectures. A wide range of flow configurations and chip designs have been employed to create mi- crofibers with increasingly complex shapes and compositions requiring individually engineered setups. Distinctly, we demonstrate how one single 3D hydrodynamic flow-focusing chip can be used to obtain a continuo...
Emerging biofabrication approaches for gastrointestinal organoids towards patie...
Soto, Fernando; Guimarães, Carlos F.; Reis, R. L.; Franco, Walfre; Rizvi, Imran; Demirci, UtkanTissue engineered organoids are simple biomodels that can emulate the structural and functional complexity of specific organs. Here, we review developments in three-dimensional (3D) artificial cell constructs to model gastrointestinal dynamics towards cancer diagnosis. We describe bottom-up approaches to fabricate close-packed cell aggregates, from the use of biochemical and physical cues to guide the self-asse...
The stiffness of living tissues and its implications for tissue engineering
Guimarães, Carlos F.; Gasperini, Luca; Marques, A. P.; Reis, R. L.The past 20 years have witnessed ever- growing evidence that the mechanical properties of biological tissues, from nanoscale to macroscale dimensions, are fundamental for cellular behaviour and consequent tissue functionality. This knowledge, combined with previously known biochemical cues, has greatly advanced the field of biomaterial development, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. It is now establi...