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Corneal disorders, including trauma, infections, and degenerative diseases, are among the major causes of blindness. Due to the global shortage of donor corneas and risks associated with transplantation, there is a growing interest in developing bioprinted corneal implants as an alternative therapeutic approach.
The aim of this study was to evaluate an alginate-based bioink. In the first stage of the study, a hydrogel with defined rheological parameters (shear viscosity, storage modulus, yield stress) was used to fabricate a substrate using a conventional extrusion-based method. Despite the optimization of the bioink (shear viscosity, storage modulus, yield stress), the quality of the print with flat geometry was low (Fig. 1a).
In the second stage, the FRESH (Freeform Reversible Embedding of Suspended Hydrogels) method was applied. Pluronic (Fluka) with the addition of 1-3% CaCl₂ was used as a support medium, serving as a crosslinking agent for the alginate-based bioink. Three-dimensional structures were fabricated using the FRESH method on a BioCloner Desktop Pro printer. Both simple 2D test substrates (Fig. 1b) and complex structures mimicking corneal geometry were successfully printed. Optimized printing parameters included: extrusion pressure 0,2 MPa number of layers 23, and printing temperature (27 °C).
The selected rheological properties of both the bioink (e.g., viscosity, shear stress) and the support medium (e.g., storage modulus) enabled the bioink to remain in a gel-like state for the required duration (<1 min). The proposed printing conditions allowed the formation of a hydrogel-based substrate with the desired shape and satisfactory print quality (Fig. 1c).
The results indicate the success of the optimization process and provide a solid foundation for further research aimed at developing a fully functional corneal implant.
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