Automated microassembly of tissue engineering scaffold

Abstract

This video presents a fully automated desktop workstation for fabricating tissue engineering (TE) scaffolds by assembling microscopic building blocks of dimension 0:5 x 0:5 x 0:2mm3 and 60μm thickness. A TE scaffold is a porous supporting structure made of biodegradable material for cells to attach to and proliferate. TE scaffolds fabricated this way enable 3D control of the cells and agents to promote optimal tissue growth. This video outlines the architecture and control strategies of the workstation, and demonstrates its efficiency. Visual and force feedbacks, as well as a haptic exploration, make the assembly robust to large relative errors in the microparts. ©2010 IEEE.