Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons^™

Optimizing Alginate-Chitosan Microcapsules Using Co-Axial Air Flow Method As 3d Stem Cell Microenvironment, Noel Alfonso

Theses

Microencapsulation of cells is gaining popular interest in the field of biomedical engineering because it provides a more effective 3D scaffold that can mimic the cell microenvironment. The benefits of using microcapsules are biocompatibility, biodegradability, nontoxicity, and formation under mild gelation conditions. In this study, the ability of the alginate microcapsules to control the proliferation and differentiation of mouse OCT4-GFP embryonic stem cells is investigated. Microcapsules are produced by extrusion of alginate into a calcium chloride gelation bath with the aid of a co-axial air flow. It is shown that the size of the spheres is controlled based on needle …