Issue 2, 2016

Assessment of biocompatibility of 3D printed photopolymers using zebrafish embryo toxicity assays

Abstract

3D printing has emerged as a rapid and cost-efficient manufacturing technique to enable the fabrication of bespoke, complex prototypes. If the technology is to have a significant impact in biomedical applications, such as drug discovery and molecular diagnostics, the devices produced must be biologically compatible to enable their use with established reference assays and protocols. In this work we demonstrate that we can adapt the Fish Embryo Test (FET) as a new method to quantify the toxicity of 3D printed microfluidic devices. We assessed the biocompatibility of four commercially available 3D printing polymers (VisiJetCrystal EX200, Watershed 11122XC, Fototec SLA 7150 Clear and ABSplus P-430), through the observation of key developmental markers in the developing zebrafish embryos. Results show all of the photopolymers to be highly toxic to the embryos, resulting in fatality, although we do demonstrate that post-printing treatment of Fototec 7150 makes it suitable for zebrafish culture within the FET.

Graphical abstract: Assessment of biocompatibility of 3D printed photopolymers using zebrafish embryo toxicity assays

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 Nov 2015
Accepted
20 Nov 2015
First published
24 Nov 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Lab Chip, 2016,16, 291-297

Assessment of biocompatibility of 3D printed photopolymers using zebrafish embryo toxicity assays

N. P. Macdonald, F. Zhu, C. J. Hall, J. Reboud, P. S. Crosier, E. E. Patton, D. Wlodkowic and J. M. Cooper, Lab Chip, 2016, 16, 291 DOI: 10.1039/C5LC01374G

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