3D Printed Soy Protein Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration
- Technology Benefits
- • Porosity and macrostructure can be controlled • Takes advantage of the thermoplasticity of soy protein • Cost effective material
- Detailed Technology Description
- Novel use of soy protein in tissue engineering and 3D printing#materials #biomedical #polymer #medicaldevice #prosthetics/rehabilitation
- *Abstract
-
Soy protein isolate, a primary commodity in the food industry, is a plant-based protein extracted from whole soybeans. Our focus is to advance the use of soy protein in biomedical applications, particularly for tissue engineering. Natural biopolymers isolated from humans and animals have been used as biocompatible implants that promote tissue regeneration. The main advantage of plant based soy protein over other protein and polysaccharide systems and synthetic materials is the ease of processing during structural fabrication. We have shown that soy protein can be formulated into a slurry which is printable using a 3D printer. The structural, mechanical, and biological properties of soy protein biomaterials can be tuned through control of structural design inputted during printing and post-treatment of scaffolds after the printing process. Manufacturing and use of soy protein isolate based biomaterials using our explored methods may be cost effective compared to currently used technology but most importantly, help support a sustainable environment. Studies on 3D soy protein scaffolds have also demonstrated that soy protein is non-cytotoxic and can support mesenchymal stem cell growth.
- *Inventors
- Ramille Shah Karen Chien
- *Publications
- Chien K and Shah R (2012) Novel soy protein scaffolds for tissue regeneration: Material characterization and interaction with human mesenchymal stem cells. Acta biomaterialia. 8: 684-703
- Country/Region
- USA
