Lightweight 3D bioprinting with point by point photocuring

Abstract

As photocrosslinkable materials, methacryloyl-modified hydrogels are widely used as bioinks in tissue engineering. Existing printing methods to use these hydrogels, including changing the viscosity of the material or mixing them with other printing components, have been explored, but their application has been limited due to low printing quality or high cost. In addition, the complex operation of bulky equipment restricts the application of these existing printing methods. This study presents a lightweight stereolithography-based three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting system with a smart mechanical and structural design. The developed bioprinter dimensions were 300 mm × 300 mm × 200 mm and it can be placed on a benchtop. The equipment has a mini bioink chamber to store a small amount of bioink for each printing. We systematically investigated the point-by-point curing process in the 3D bioprinting method, which can print mixed cells accurately and have good biocompatibility. Here, we provide a compact, low-cost stereolithography bioprinting system with excellent biocompatibility for 3D bioprinting with methacryloyl-modified hydrogels. It can be potentially used for drug screening, studying pathological mechanisms, and constructing biological disease models.

Keywords

• Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting
• Stereolithography bioprinting system
• Compact
• Low-cost
• Tissue engineering
• Cell printing