Department of Chemistry KAIST, Daejeon, Republic of Korea.
Department of Medical Biotechnology, College of Medical Science, Soonchunhyang University, Asan, Chungnam, Korea.
PLoS One. 2023 Aug 2;18(8):e0289493. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289493. eCollection 2023.
Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, has revolutionized the way we create objects. However, its layer-by-layer process may lead to an increased incidence of local defects compared to traditional casting-based methods. Factors such as light intensity, depth of light penetration, component inhomogeneity, and fluctuations in nozzle temperature all contribute to defect formations. These defective regions can become sources of toxic component leakage, but pinpointing their locations in 3D printed materials remains a challenge. Traditional toxicological assessments rely on the extraction and subsequent exposure of living organisms to these harmful agents, thus only offering a passive detection approach. Therefore, the development of an active system to both identify and locate sources of toxicity is essential in the realm of 3D printing technologies. Herein, we introduce the use of the nematode model organism, Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), for toxicity evaluation. C. elegans exhibits distinctive 'sensing' and 'locomotion' capabilities that enable it to actively navigate toward safe zones while steering clear of hazardous areas. This active behavior sets C. elegans apart from other aquatic and animal models, making it an exceptional choice for immediate and precise identification and localization of toxicity sources in 3D printed materials.
增材制造，又称 3D 打印，彻底改变了我们制造物体的方式。然而，与传统的基于铸造的方法相比，其逐层的制造过程可能会导致局部缺陷的发生率增加。光强度、光穿透深度、成分非均一性以及喷嘴温度波动等因素都会导致缺陷的形成。这些有缺陷的区域可能成为有毒成分泄漏的源头，但在 3D 打印材料中确定它们的位置仍然是一个挑战。传统的毒理学评估依赖于将这些有害物质提取出来并随后暴露于生物体，因此只能提供被动的检测方法。因此，开发一种主动的系统来识别和定位毒性源对于 3D 打印技术领域至关重要。在这里，我们引入了秀丽隐杆线虫（C. elegans）作为毒性评估的模式生物。秀丽隐杆线虫具有独特的“感知”和“运动”能力，使其能够主动向安全区域导航，同时避开危险区域。这种主动行为使秀丽隐杆线虫与其他水生动物模型区分开来，使其成为即时、精确识别和定位 3D 打印材料中毒性源的绝佳选择。
