# 3D Printed Bioreactors for Cell Culture

> **NIH NIH P41** · UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK · 2020 · $263,947

## Abstract

Project Summary 
Traditional treatments for bone injuries have significant limitations. While over one million allogenic and 
autologous bone grafting procedures are performed each year, significant incidences of medical complications 
- often involving modest viability, poor integration, or an immune response - still occur. Therefore, the flexibility 
provided by an in vitro cultured, engineered tissue provides an excellent avenue to repair and replace 
damaged bone tissue. This approach involves seeding and growing a cell source on a scaffold and implanting 
the cell-laden construct into the injury site. However, the culture of large volume engineered tissues - and 
particularly cell viability, expansion, proliferation, and differentiation in these large tissues - is limited by current 
culture techniques. To address this concern, TR&D1 aims to develop a 3D printed (3DP) bioreactor as a 
dynamic culture system to control cellular microenvironment and therefore promote cell viability, expansion, 
proliferation, and differentiation within large engineered constructs. To this end, we have recently developed a 
tubular perfusion system (TPS) bioreactor that enables the expansion of human mesenchymal stem cells, the 
differentiation of these cells into osteoblasts, and the subsequent formation of boney tissue. Based on our 
earlier TPS bioreactor, we will use 3D printing to fabricate specialized bioreactor chambers with variable 
architecture, controlled flow environments, and spatially located cell populations; thus, we can ensure 
adequate availability of nutrients and oxygen for the expansion of stem cells within these large constructs. 
Furthermore, 3D printing control of the spatial location of cell populations will allow us to determine interactions 
between multiple cell populations, such as mesenchymal stem cells and endothelial cells. Finally, we will utilize 
the strategies developed in the in vitro 3D bioreactor chambers to fabricate removable, biodegradable scaffolds 
of engineered bone tissues that are suitable for in vivo application. The results of these studies will deliver a 
3DP bioreactor system that can support the growth of large engineered tissues, while also providing a set of 
tools to develop other, similarly designed, tissue specific bioreactor systems.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9860941
- **Project number:** 5P41EB023833-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF MARYLAND, COLLEGE PARK
- **Principal Investigator:** John P Fisher
- **Activity code:** P41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $263,947
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9860941

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9860941, 3D Printed Bioreactors for Cell Culture (5P41EB023833-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9860941. Licensed CC0.

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