An assessment of ultrasound transmission gel as trial bioink by pneumatic extrusion-based 3D bio-printer

Abstract

Ultrasound transmission gel has been normally used as a material fills the gap between the transducer of the ultrasound and patient’s skin. Alternatively, however, it can be used as a trial bioink for the 3D bio-printer, which is identified as one material for checking its printability at the preliminary phase. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether the ultrasound transmission gel can be used as the trial bioink. For this purpose, we investigated the viscosity of some kinds of the ultrasound transmission gel, and compared with commercially available one. And also we measured the width of the printed lines with the ultrasound transmission gel in comparison with the perspective width. According to our results, we concluded that the ultrasound transmission gel can be used as the trial bioink as long as selecting appropriate viscosity type.

Keywords

• bioink
• 3d bio-printer
• pneumatic extrusion-based bioprinting
• ultrasound transmission gel
• viscosity