High-resolution Acoustophoretic Engineering

Mechanobiology and Soft Material Laboratory at Yonsei University led by Prof. Hyungsuk Lee develops the acoustophoretic technique that apply to manipulate kinds of particles and cells. With the advantages of non-invasiveness, no need of label, and energy efficiency, the technique is able to select, pattern, mix, and translate micro-sized objects. Recently, the technique was used to fabricate a vascular tissue construct consisting of a biocompatible hydrogel and co-aligned multi-type cells in 3D patterns. The fabricated tissue replicating the tissue-specific cellular arrangement exhibited improvements in terms of differentiation, maturation, and anti-inflammation response of tissue. Implantation of the engineered tissue recovered the perfusion rate remarkably and rescued the ischemic tissue ultimately. The results of the research were published in Nature Communications with the title of “High-resolution acoustophoretic 3D cell patterning to construct functional collateral cylindroids for ischemia therapy”. The acoustophoretic technique can be further developed as a high-resolution bioprinting method to create any types of tissues, which are essential for tissue regeneration, therapeutic, and drug screening applications.

1. Kang B, Jo S, Baek J, Nakamura F, Hwang W, Lee H. Role of mechanical flow for actin network organization. Acta Biomaterialia, Vol. 90, P.217-24, 2019

2. Kang B, Shin J, Park HJ, Rhyou C, Kang D, Lee SJ, Yoon YS, Cho SW, Lee H. High-resolution acoustophoretic 3D cell patterning to construct functional collateral cylindroids for ischemia therapy. Nature Communications, Vol. 9, P. 5402, 2018