Patent ID: 11898159
Assignee: UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
Field: Biotechnology (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C  B | IPC B  C

Claim 0:
1. A pre-vascularized spheroid comprising one or more microvascular fragments surrounding a composition that comprises one or more biologically-relevant materials, said biologically-relevant materials and microvascular fragments being dispersed in a hydrogel comprising alginate, said spheroid having uniform dimensions and a diameter between 500 and 2,500 microns, wherein said spheroid is produced by a method comprising:
providing a first suspension comprising one or more biologically-relevant materials dispersed within a biocompatible medium, wherein the biocompatible medium is a hydrogel comprising alginate;
providing a second suspension comprising one or more microvascular fragments dispersed within a biocompatible medium, wherein the biocompatible medium is a hydrogel comprising alginate;
providing a bioprinter having a first delivery pen surrounded by a second delivery pen;
placing the first suspension in the first delivery pen and the second suspension in the second delivery pen; and
extruding the first suspension from the first delivery pen and the second suspension from the second delivery pen in a substantially simultaneous manner such that a droplet is formed with the second suspension encapsulating the first suspension, thereby forming the pre-vascularized spheroid;
wherein the biologically-relevant materials comprise stromal vascular fraction cells or stem cells.