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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2012 Jul 1.
Published in final edited form as: Biotechnol Bioeng. 2011 Mar 11;108(7):1693–1703. doi: 10.1002/bit.23102

Figure 1. Sequential assembly process of microgels using a directed assembly approach.

Figure 1

A. Schematic of the microgel fabrication process; B. Schematic of the sequential assembly procedure: A glass slide containing a prefabricated array of microgels was immersed in mineral oil and the microgels were assembled into tubular structures by swiping a needle underneath them. The assembly was subsequently stabilized by a secondary crosslinking step; C. Sequence of images taken of the microgels during assembly at nine different times; D. Phase image of the microgel tubular assembly with a single lumen; E. Design and phase image of the microgel arrays which should be assembled into tubular structures embedded with 3D branching lumens; F. Phase images of the microgel assembly with branching lumens. Scale bar: 500 µm.