To characterize the degradation behavior of the hydrogel under compression, three different approaches were used: i) analysis of Brownian motion of fluorescent beads embedded in the alginate hydrogel, ii) measurement of the gel weight after applying compression, and iii) mechanical property measurement of hydrogel with and without compressive stress. Figure illustrates how compressive stress was applied to the hydrogel. A hydrogel was placed in a 96well plate, and a 3D-printed support was placed on top of the hydrogel followed by a weight. The compressive stress applied to the hydrogel was calculated by dividing the force imparted by the weight and the 3D-printed support by the contact area of the gel, assuming negligible frictional forces between the wall and the support (see Supporting Information). During each experiment, 33 or 55 kPa of compressive stress was applied for 20 min. Figure shows photographs of 0.8% hydrogel samples before and after applying 55 kPa compressive stress using the described setup. 0.1 μm size fluorescent beads were also embedded in all sets of hydrogels to examine their Brownian motion as their diffusivity reflects the gel or solution state of the hydrogel (Figure ).