Research on the spreading characteristics of biodegradable ethyl cyanoacrylate droplet of a piezoelectric inkjet

Piezoelectric inkjet has been widely applied in printing field thanks to its advantages of ejecting small droplet precisely. The method of printing biodegradable structure for tissue support or connection by piezoelectric inkjet is proposed in this work, which will contribute to wound repair in vivo and avoid secondary trauma caused by removing non-biodegradable support. A piezoelectric inkjet with simple structure is designed for printing biodegradable ethyl cyanoacrylate solution. Basic studies of printing biodegradable ethyl cyanoacrylate structure are carried out. The spreading characteristics of ethyl cyanoacrylates droplets before solidification under different conditions are studied by simulation analyses, and the methods for stabilizing the spreading performance and avoiding failure spreading are obtained. The spreading characteristics of the droplets before and after solidification under different conditions are analyzed by experiments, and the corresponding shrinkage ratios are obtained. Based on the obtained shrinkage ratios (between 70 % and 75 % when spreading without satellite droplets) and spreading dimensions before solidification (obtained by simulation analyses), the final formed size of the ethyl cyanoacrylate droplet can be estimated to determine the appropriate printing distance in continuous printing. A simple structure is printed by the piezoelectric inkjet to verify the feasibility of the proposed method of the printing ethyl cyanoacrylate biodegradable structure for medical care.