Engineering Commons^™

Development Of A 3d Printed Conductive Biopolymer For Cardiac Tissue Engineering, Britanny Lizeth Stark

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the US, with approximately 859,000 deaths each year. The major contributor to CVD is Acute Myocardial Infarction (AMI), which causes the death of approximately 25% of the cardiomyocytes present in the left ventricle of the heart. After AMI, the adult human heart has a very limited regenerative capacity. Moreover, the electrical propagation of the myocardium is severely disrupted, making the heart more susceptible to failure and patient death. However, current pharmacological treatments do not address the loss of cardiomyocytes and the disruption of electrical propagation in the heart. Tissue engineering …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Material Systems For 3d Printed Smart Structures, Hilda Fontes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The silica hollow spheres have demonstrated excellent results in multiple applications such as light-weight composites, and optical applications as a glass coating. This material also exhibits excellent thermal, shock impact, and hydrophilic properties extremely useful for industrial applications. However, a controllable size of the particle is desired to further increase the number of applications of the silica hollow spheres.

This Thesis aims a method to fabricate silica hollow spheres in a single step with a controlled diameter size. A study was developed to demonstrate the particle size change when adjusting the molecular weight of the medium by using different alcohol …

On Demand 3d Printed Hybrid Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering Applications, Ivan D. Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A composite 3D printed polymer scaffold with inbuilt porosity and filled with a hydrogel can provide an ideal support system for cell growth, proliferation, and vascularization. Therefore, a hybrid system of 3D printed polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffold and a hydroxyapatite-based hydrogel was developed for application in the reconstruction of bone defects, which are inherently difficult to repair without any guided therapies. In the present study, a 3D printed gyroid structure of PCL allowed the loading of a higher amount of hydrogel as compared to conventionally used 3D printed mesh structure of the same volume and strut thickness. The hydrogel was composed …