Tissue Engineering: Effective Light Directed Assembly of Building Blocks with Microscale Control (Small 24/2017)

In article number 1700684, Chia-Hung Chen, and co-workers, introduce a novel light assembly method on the microscale by suspending gold nanorods (GNRs), as photothermal transducers, in a fluidic medium to induce thermoplasmonic convections for the assembly. The assembly of hydrogel microparticles, cell-laden microgels and microtissues to form desirable patterns is demonstrated. This method can revolutionize current biofabrication processes that otherwise would have been difficult to achieve using 3D printing and other assembly technologies.