Sanz-Garcia Andres, Sodupe-Ortega Enrique, Pernía-Espinoza Alpha, Shimizu Tatsuya, Escobedo-Lucea Carmen
Division of Pharmaceutical Biosciences. University of Helsinki. Viikinkaari 5 E (P.O. Box 56), 00014 Helsinki, Finland.
Institute of Advanced Biomedical Engineering and Science, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan.
Polymers (Basel). 2020 Oct 13;12(10):2346. doi: 10.3390/polym12102346.
Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting promises to be essential in tissue engineering for solving the rising demand for organs and tissues. Some bioprinters are commercially available, but their impact on the field of Tissue engineering (TE) is still limited due to their cost or difficulty to tune. Herein, we present a low-cost easy-to-build printhead for microextrusion-based bioprinting (MEBB) that can be installed in many desktop 3D printers to transform them into 3D bioprinters. We can extrude bioinks with precise control of print temperature between 2-60 °C. We validated the versatility of the printhead, by assembling it in three low-cost open-source desktop 3D printers. Multiple units of the printhead can also be easily put together in a single printer carriage for building a multi-material 3D bioprinter. Print resolution was evaluated by creating representative calibration models at different temperatures using natural hydrogels such as gelatin and alginate, and synthetic ones like poloxamer. Using one of the three modified low-cost 3D printers, we successfully printed cell-laden lattice constructs with cell viabilities higher than 90% after 24-h post printing. Controlling temperature and pressure according to the rheological properties of the bioinks was essential in achieving optimal printability and great cell viability. The cost per unit of our device, which can be used with syringes of different volume, is less expensive than any other commercially available product. These data demonstrate an affordable open-source printhead with the potential to become a reliable alternative to commercial bioprinters for any laboratory.
三维(3D)生物打印有望在组织工程中发挥关键作用,以满足对器官和组织日益增长的需求。一些生物打印机已在市场上销售,但由于成本或调试难度等问题,它们对组织工程(TE)领域的影响仍然有限。在此,我们展示了一种用于基于微挤压的生物打印(MEBB)的低成本且易于构建的打印头,它可以安装在许多桌面3D打印机中,将其转变为3D生物打印机。我们能够在2至60°C的打印温度下精确控制生物墨水的挤出。通过将其组装在三台低成本开源桌面3D打印机中,我们验证了该打印头的多功能性。多个打印头单元也可以轻松地组装在单个打印机滑架中,以构建多材料3D生物打印机。使用明胶和藻酸盐等天然水凝胶以及泊洛沙姆等合成材料,在不同温度下创建代表性校准模型,对打印分辨率进行了评估。使用三台经过改装的低成本3D打印机中的一台,我们成功打印了载有细胞的晶格结构,打印后24小时细胞活力高于90%。根据生物墨水的流变特性控制温度和压力对于实现最佳打印性能和良好的细胞活力至关重要。我们的设备每单位成本较低,可与不同体积的注射器配合使用,比任何其他市售产品都更便宜。这些数据表明,这种经济实惠的开源打印头有可能成为任何实验室中商业生物打印机的可靠替代品。