# Handheld 3D Bioprinting of Self-Healing Hydrogels for Vocal Fold Reconstruction

> **NIH NIH R21** · ROWAN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $85,478

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Between 3% and 9% of the general population have a voice problem at any given point in time. Such
problems have serious psychological, functional and economic consequences, in particular for teachers and
professional voice users. The most severe conditions affecting voice are when vocal fold mucosa is lost or
replaced by scar. For large mucosa voids or scarring, we propose to deliver effective biomaterials into the
vocal fold site using an endoscopy-fit handheld bioprinter. This approach may help regenerate a functional
vocal fold tissue and restore voice production. Biomimetic self-healing hydrogels act like fluid flow during
needle extrusion and rapidly solidify when the precursors mix, thus allowing in situ deposition of vocal fold
implants via extrusion. We will optimize a self-healing hydrogel formulation that adheres and seals quickly to
the host tissue, in which phenol-based components will be used as adhesives due to their biocompatibility
and tunable adhesion strength. We will assess the biocompatibility of the proposed hydrogel using human
vocal fold fibroblasts. The hydrogel will feed a custom-made handheld bioprinter with tunable length and
coaxial geometry. We will explore bioprinting strategies to deposit such vocal fold implants via changing
design parameters in the handheld bioprinter and extrusion of the proposed hydrogel to vocal fold sites. We
will test our handheld bioprinter using ex vivo larynges, and will optimize the deposition parameters. In the
last step, we will incorporate an animal model for in vivo assessment of our hydrogel and to justify the clinical
efficiency of our proposed handheld bioprinter. Our overarching goal is to translate the proposed self-healing
hydrogel system and the bioprinting platform into otolaryngology clinics in the United States when we
successfully complete this grant.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10228723
- **Project number:** 5R21DC018818-02
- **Recipient organization:** ROWAN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Amir Kamal Miri Ramsheh
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $85,478
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-08-05 → 2021-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10228723

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10228723, Handheld 3D Bioprinting of Self-Healing Hydrogels for Vocal Fold Reconstruction (5R21DC018818-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10228723. Licensed CC0.

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