Figure 2.

Swelling analysis. (A) Lyophilized 3D printed annular ring on day 0 (left) and swollen annular ring on day 12 (right). (B) Non-cross-linked versus cross-linked scaffolds shown during the swelling experiment at varying time points. Scale bar in all images corresponds to 2 mm. (C) Swelling ratio of the 3D printed annular rings at various time points in culture media with 3–4 days, 10–11 days, and 20–21 days highlighted to depict significant differences in swelling behavior in the scaffolds studied. Swelling ratio (mean ± SD) for characteristic alginate–gelatin-annular ring scaffolds was studied for 21 days during which the maximum degree of swelling was attained on day 12. Beyond day 12, until day 15, the swelling apparently reached equilibrium as these values did not seem to bear any statistical differences when analyzed and a significantly lower swelling ratio from day 16 to 21 was observed.