{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T03:23:15Z","timestamp":1760239395880,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"22","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]],"date-time":"2020-11-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1605052800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Materials"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Microencapsulation is a widely studied cell therapy and tissue bioengineering technique, since it is capable of creating an immune-privileged site, protecting encapsulated cells from the host immune system. Several polymers have been tested, but sodium alginate is in widespread use for cell encapsulation applications, due to its low toxicity and easy manipulation. Different cell encapsulation methods have been described in the literature using pressure differences or electrostatic changes with high cost commercial devices (about 30,000 US dollars). Herein, a low-cost device (about 100 US dollars) that can be created by commercial syringes or 3D printer devices has been developed. The capsules, whose diameter is around 500 \u00b5m and can decrease or increase according to the pressure applied to the system, is able to maintain cells viable and functional. The hydrogel porosity of the capsule indicates that the immune system is not capable of destroying host cells, demonstrating that new studies can be developed for cell therapy at low cost with microencapsulation production. This device may aid pre-clinical and clinical projects in low- and middle-income countries and is lined up with open source equipment devices.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ma13225090","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]],"date-time":"2020-11-11T19:08:28Z","timestamp":1605121708000},"page":"5090","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Low-Cost Open Source Device for Cell Microencapsulation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Miriam Salles","family":"Pereira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cellular Communication, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21045-900, Brazil"},{"name":"Volta Redonda University Center\u2014UniFOA, Av. Paulo Erlei Alves Abrantes, 1325-Tr\u00eas Po\u00e7os, Volta Redonda 27240-560, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8567-3276","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Liana Monteiro da Fonseca","family":"Cardoso","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cellular Communication, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21045-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tatiane Barreto","family":"da Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cellular Communication, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21045-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ayla Josma","family":"Teixeira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cellular Communication, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21045-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Saul Eliah\u00fa","family":"Mizrahi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Technology\u2014INT, Rio de Janeiro Av. Venezuela, 82-Sa\u00fade, Rio de Janeiro 20081-312, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gabriel Schonwandt Mendes","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Technology\u2014INT, Rio de Janeiro Av. Venezuela, 82-Sa\u00fade, Rio de Janeiro 20081-312, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2233-818X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fabio Moyses Lins","family":"Dantas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Institute of Technology\u2014INT, Rio de Janeiro Av. Venezuela, 82-Sa\u00fade, Rio de Janeiro 20081-312, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Vinicius","family":"Cotta-de-Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory on Thymus Research, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21045-900, Brazil"},{"name":"National Institute of Science and Technology on Neuroimmunomodulation (INCT-NIM), Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21045-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Luiz Anastacio","family":"Alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Cellular Communication, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, 4365 Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro 21045-900, Brazil"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Winter, L., Pellicer-Guridi, R., Broche, L., Winkler, S.A., Reimann, H.M., Han, H., Arndt, F., Hodge, R., G\u00fcnyar, S., and Moritz, M. (2019). Open Source Medical Devices for Innovation, Education and Global Health: Case Study of Open Source Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Co-Creation, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-97788-1_12"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"779","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp1108040","article-title":"Health technologies and innovation in the global health arena","volume":"365","author":"Sinha","year":"2011","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"World Health Organization (2019, November 24). Local Production and Technology Transfer to Increase Access to Medical Devices: Addressing the Barriers and Challenges in Low- and Middle-Income Countries. Available online: http:\/\/www.who.int\/medical_devices\/1240EHT_final.pdf."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"524","DOI":"10.1126\/science.146.3643.524","article-title":"Semipermeable Microcapsules","volume":"146","author":"Chang","year":"1964","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"908","DOI":"10.1126\/science.6776628","article-title":"Microencapsulated islets as bioartificial endocrine pancreas","volume":"210","author":"Lim","year":"1980","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"846","DOI":"10.1002\/jbm.a.35205","article-title":"Cell microencapsulation with synthetic polymers","volume":"103","author":"Olabisi","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Mater. Res. A"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4939-6364-5_6","article-title":"Polymeric Materials for Cell Microencapsulation","volume":"1479","author":"Aijaz","year":"2017","journal-title":"Methods Mol. Biol."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"44","article-title":"Artificial Cell Therapy: New Strategies for the Therapeutic Delivery of Live Bacteria","volume":"2005","author":"Prakash","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"615","DOI":"10.1080\/02652040210144243","article-title":"Alginate-polylysine-alginate microcapsules: Effect of size reduction on capsule properties","volume":"19","author":"Strand","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Microencapsul."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-4636(199901)44:1<116::AID-JBM13>3.0.CO;2-9","article-title":"Studies on small (<350 \u00b5m) alginate-poly-L-lysine microcapsules. III. Biocompatibility Of smaller versus standard microcapsules","volume":"44","author":"Robitaille","year":"1999","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Mater. Res."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"348S","DOI":"10.1016\/j.spinee.2004.07.031","article-title":"Stem cell regeneration of the nucleus pulposus","volume":"4","author":"Risbud","year":"2004","journal-title":"Spine J. Off. J. N. Am. Spine Soc."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"286","DOI":"10.1177\/1535370216673746","article-title":"Microencapsulation of porcine thyroid cell organoids within a polymer microcapsule construct","volume":"242","author":"Yang","year":"2017","journal-title":"Exp. Biol. Med."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addr.2013.07.009","article-title":"Application of cell encapsulation for controlled delivery of biological therapeutics","volume":"67\u201368","author":"Orive","year":"2014","journal-title":"Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"92","DOI":"10.1016\/j.addr.2018.04.018","article-title":"Cell encapsulation: Overcoming barriers in cell transplantation in diabetes and beyond","volume":"139","author":"Farina","year":"2019","journal-title":"Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"40","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.gt.3303049","article-title":"Transplantation of microencapsulated genetically modified xenogeneic cells augments angiogenesis and improves heart function","volume":"15","author":"Zhang","year":"2008","journal-title":"Gene Ther."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"15040","DOI":"10.1038\/boneres.2015.40","article-title":"Current research on pharmacologic and regenerative therapies for osteoarthritis","volume":"4","author":"Zhang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Bone Res."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1146","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jemermed.2012.12.015","article-title":"Richard Lower: The origins of blood transfusion","volume":"44","author":"Fastag","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Emerg. Med."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"268","DOI":"10.1038\/nrendo.2016.178","article-title":"Clinical pancreatic islet transplantation","volume":"13","author":"Shapiro","year":"2017","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Endocrinol."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"63","DOI":"10.1002\/jbm.1217","article-title":"Hydrogel properties influence ECM production by chondrocytes photoencapsulated in poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels","volume":"59","author":"Bryant","year":"2002","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Mater. Res."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"655","DOI":"10.1002\/bit.22361","article-title":"Hydrogels as extracellular matrix mimics for 3D cell culture","volume":"103","author":"Tibbitt","year":"2009","journal-title":"Biotechnol. Bioeng."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1999","DOI":"10.1016\/j.transproceed.2014.06.053","article-title":"Xenograft of microencapsulated Sertoli cells for the cell therapy of type 2 diabetes mellitus in spontaneously diabetic nonhuman primates: Preliminary data","volume":"46","author":"Luca","year":"2014","journal-title":"Transpl. Proc."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1111\/jdi.12788","article-title":"Microencapsulation for cell therapy of type 1 diabetes mellitus: The interplay between common beliefs, prejudices and real progress","volume":"9","author":"Calafiore","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Diabetes Investig."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1007\/s11892-017-0877-0","article-title":"Islet Microencapsulation: Strategies and Clinical Status in Diabetes","volume":"17","author":"Omami","year":"2017","journal-title":"Curr. Diabetes Rep."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106","DOI":"10.1016\/j.progpolymsci.2011.06.003","article-title":"Alginate: Properties and biomedical applications","volume":"37","author":"Lee","year":"2012","journal-title":"Prog. Polym. Sci."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"273","DOI":"10.1016\/S0142-9612(96)00135-4","article-title":"Effect of the alginate composition on the biocompatibility of alginate-polylysine microcapsules","volume":"18","year":"1997","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3825","DOI":"10.1016\/S0142-9612(02)00118-7","article-title":"Biocompatibility of microcapsules for cell immobilization elaborated with different type of alginates","volume":"23","author":"Orive","year":"2002","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4419-5786-3_2","article-title":"Biomaterials in cell microencapsulation","volume":"670","author":"Santos","year":"2010","journal-title":"Adv. Exp. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"605","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-0290(19991205)65:5<605::AID-BIT14>3.0.CO;2-C","article-title":"Diffusion characteristics of calcium alginate gels","volume":"65","author":"Amsden","year":"1999","journal-title":"Biotechnol. Bioeng."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4023","DOI":"10.1016\/S0142-9612(03)00295-3","article-title":"Designing alginate hydrogels to maintain viability of immobilized cells","volume":"24","author":"Kong","year":"2003","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1683","DOI":"10.1016\/j.actbio.2010.12.006","article-title":"Biocompatibility and physicochemical characteristics of alginate-polycation microcapsules","volume":"7","author":"Tam","year":"2011","journal-title":"Acta Biomater."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2559","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2009.01.014","article-title":"Multiscale requirements for bioencapsulation in medicine and biotechnology","volume":"30","author":"Bucko","year":"2009","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8416","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2011.06.044","article-title":"Effect of alginate encapsulation on the cellular transcriptome of human islets","volume":"32","author":"Vaithilingam","year":"2011","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1683","DOI":"10.1002\/bp060185z","article-title":"Culture of neural stem cells in calcium alginate beads","volume":"22","author":"Li","year":"2006","journal-title":"Biotechnol. Prog."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3691","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2006.02.048","article-title":"Biocompatibility of alginate-poly-L-lysine microcapsules for cell therapy","volume":"27","author":"Orive","year":"2006","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5603","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2006.07.010","article-title":"Alginate-based microcapsules for immunoisolation of pancreatic islets","volume":"27","author":"Faas","year":"2006","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"243","DOI":"10.1002\/jbm.a.30541","article-title":"Evaluation of alginate purification methods: Effect on polyphenol, endotoxin, and protein contamination","volume":"76","author":"Dusseault","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. Biomed. Mater. Res. A"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"76","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jconrel.2008.08.010","article-title":"Cell microencapsulation technology: Towards clinical application","volume":"132","author":"Murua","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Control. Release"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"69","DOI":"10.5500\/wjt.v6.i1.69","article-title":"Survival of encapsulated islets: More than a membrane story","volume":"6","author":"Barkai","year":"2016","journal-title":"World J. Transpl."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"19","DOI":"10.4291\/wjgp.v3.i1.19","article-title":"Encapsulated islets transplantation: Past, present and future","volume":"3","author":"Sakata","year":"2012","journal-title":"World J. Gastrointest. Pathophysiol."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1275","DOI":"10.1097\/00007890-199412150-00025","article-title":"Transplantation in humans of encapsulated xenogeneic cells without immunosuppression. A preliminary report","volume":"58","author":"Aebischer","year":"1994","journal-title":"Transplantation"},{"key":"ref_41","first-page":"365","article-title":"Clinical perspectives of xenografts: Encapsulated chromaffin cells and pain","volume":"48","author":"Bes","year":"2000","journal-title":"Pathol. Biol."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1007\/s10856-018-6151-4","article-title":"Dual-crosslinked homogeneous alginate microspheres for mesenchymal stem cell encapsulation","volume":"29","author":"Etter","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Mater. Sci. Mater. Med."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Farias, C., Lyman, R., Hemingway, C., Chau, H., Mahacek, A., Bouzos, E., and Mobed-Miremadi, M. (2018). Three-Dimensional (3D) Printed Microneedles for Microencapsulated Cell Extrusion. Bioengineering, 5.","DOI":"10.3390\/bioengineering5030059"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.3109\/10731199.2012.716064","article-title":"Comparative diffusivity measurements for alginate-based atomized and inkjet-bioprinted artificial cells using fluorescence microscopy","volume":"41","author":"Asi","year":"2013","journal-title":"Artif. Cells Nanomed. Biotechnol."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1007\/s10544-006-9011-9","article-title":"Microfabricated airflow nozzle for microencapsulation of living cells into 150 micrometer microcapsules","volume":"9","author":"Sugiura","year":"2007","journal-title":"Biomed. Microdevices"},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1590\/S1415-47572008000100023","article-title":"An effective device for generating alginate microcapsules","volume":"31","author":"Bressel","year":"2008","journal-title":"Genet. Mol. Biol."}],"container-title":["Materials"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/13\/22\/5090\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T10:32:09Z","timestamp":1760178729000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1996-1944\/13\/22\/5090"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]]},"references-count":46,"journal-issue":{"issue":"22","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11]]}},"alternative-id":["ma13225090"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ma13225090","relation":{},"ISSN":["1996-1944"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"1996-1944"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,11]]}}}