The distribution of cells after printing the cells using a 3D printer affects cell proliferation and survival rate. Research is being conducted on techniques for evenly printing a certain amount of cells at regular intervals. When cell clusters in numerous of single cells are printed at regular intervals, they can have an implantation rate higher than that of a single cell. However, research of printing cell clusters ranging in size from tens to hundreds of micrometers are scarce
In this paper, for the purpose of the basic research of making dispensers capable of printing cell clusters, experiments were carried out using alginate clusters similar in properties to cell clusters. The alginate clusters used in the experiments were prepared with hydrogel, NaCl2, and phosphate buffer saline (PBS). Clusters of various sizes were prepared by adjusting the alginate concentration, nozzle size, and pressure. The prepared alginate clusters are adsorbed one by one using a pressure change and then discharged at a desired position to uniformly print alginate clusters.