Microchannels fabrication by alginate fiber molding method

In this paper, we constructed three dimensional (3D) microchannel networks inside gelatin-based hydrogel towards 3D in vitro cell structures. To achieve functional 3D cell structures, vascular networks are important to supply oxygen and nutrients to cells, and remove waste product from cells. An alginate hydrogel fibers were employed to construct the microchannel networks like blood vessels. The pattern of the hydrogel fiber can be fixed using magnetic force and the fibers are embedded in the gelatin-based hydrogel. Cells can be embedded inside the gelatin-based hydrogel. The patterned hydrogel fiber can be melted using standard saline citrate (SSC) buffer and the melted area can be used as vascular networks. The flow inside the melted alginate hydrogel fibers were visualized using fluorescent microbeads. The results validate that the proposed method can be used to make arbitrary patterns of vascular networks inside cell structures and contribute to achieve in vitro 3D cell structures.