Bioprinter Construction Using an Open-Source 3-D printer

Vignesh Sivashankar*, Duncan McGee*, Oxana Tseytlin, Ryan O’Connell, Andrey Bobko, and Mark Tseytlin

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506

Presentation Category: Physical Sciences & Engineering (Poster Presentation #161)

Student’s Major: Electrical Engineering

A 3-D bioprinter can fabricate biological tissues and organs from a substrate, bio-ink. Tissues printed by bioprinters are used for research and drug discovery, removing the need for live-animal testing. Until now, the chemical microenvironment of 3-D printed tissues has not been monitored. The bioprinter being built in this project will have the capability of printing tissue constructs with chemical probes that enable oxygen concentration to be monitored. Commercially available bioprinters lack the flexibility to change bioink consistency, printing parameters, and bioprinting methodology. This research aims to design a flexible bioprinter by modifying an open-source extruder 3-D printer. The open-source nature of the printer allows for unlimited freedom in the modification of the bio-inks, the introduction of imaging agents, and the modification of cross-linking strategies. The plastic extruder of the 3-D printer was replaced with a linear actuator and a syringe that holds and releases the bio-ink. The bed heating parameters were altered to support biomaterials and extrusion heating was disabled. The firmware of the 3-D printer was reprogrammed to accommodate the movement and extrusion of the syringe and to optimize the syringe needle movements on the bed. Several bioprinting methodologies were tested using the 3-D bioprinter. The printed models were imaged using a functional electron paramagnetic resonance imaging system to confirm the presence and distribution of the chemical probes, and thereby to demonstrate its capability of printing tissues whose microenvironment can be monitored.

Funding: National Institutes of Health

Program/mechanism supporting research/creative efforts: WVU's Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP) & accompanying HONR 297-level course