In the video game Minecraft, everything including animals and characters is made of small 3D blocks called voxels. Materials scientists at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science have developed a Minecraft-like, voxelated approach that uses droplets as the basic building blocks to create complicated structures comparable to human tissues and organs.
Liheng Cai, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, leads the team. Jinchang Zhu, a Ph.D. student in Cai's Soft Biomatter Laboratory, develops their bioprinting technique, digital assembly of spherical bio-ink particles or DASP.
"In principle, DASP allows us to precisely define the location, composition and properties of individual droplets and assemble them into 3D constructs that match the artistry of biological tissues," Zhu said.
To read more, click here.