Microdevice arrays for identifying 3D mechanical stimulation conditions in tissue engineering

Current platforms for three dimensional (3D) mechanical stimulation of engineered load-bearing tissues have limited throughput and capability to investigate optimal mechanical loading regimes (e.g., strain magnitude and duty cycle). We demonstrate, for the first time, the use of deformable membrane device arrays in identifying beneficial 3D dynamic mechanical stimulation conditions for engineered cell-hydrogel constructs. We show that the combination of 5% nominal tensile strain and 3 hrs of duty cycle, as well as the combination of 8.5% nominal tensile strain and 6 hrs of duty cycle best promote spreading and collagen expression by human mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) embedded in hydrogels.