A multi-purpose, open-source, hackable 3D printer for soft materials has been created by researchers. The technique has the potential to spur more innovation in a variety of industries, including food, soft robotics, tissue engineering, and environmentally friendly material processing—helping to produce unheard-of designs.
A highly adaptable extrusion-based 3D printer to compete with commercial 3D bioprinters is called a Printer. HM. It may take many geometric inputs, including coordinates, equations, computer-aided design (CAD) models, and images, to produce prints with unique properties. Researchers from the Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, and The Nanoscience Center, University of Cambridge, in collaboration with the Universities of Macau and Oxford, developed this multi-printhead system, which is built on a hackable robotic arm and offers multi-functionalities in one platform via heating and ultraviolet (UV) modules. In the journal Scientific Reports, specifics of their cost-effective printing strategy are disclosed.
Numerous operations may be carried out in addition to outstanding print compatibility with a broad range of liquids and soft materials, such as:
- fluid dispense
- printing using many materials
- printing at different speeds
- Integrated printing (creating freeform and overhanging structures)
- printing that isn’t flat
- Pick-and-place software.
The printability of thermal-responsive and photo-polymerizable hydrogels, which are used in a variety of biomedical applications such as drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound healing, may be adjusted with the optional heating and UV modules.
The design flexibility and print route customization options are provided by Printer. HM allow for the production of prints with unique features. Simple patterns (coordinates), one-stroke printing (equations), 3D designs (G-code), and adaptable 2D motifs (pictures) are some of these. The latter allows for the straightforward conversion of hand-drawn drawings into prints without the requirement for a CAD model. The flexibility to customise print paths is particularly helpful for soft robotics applications, as the researchers’ development of a soft morphing system using a pH-responsive hydrogel demonstrates.
The researchers created a 2D drawing of a floral pattern using a Printer.HM, and after four minutes, it grew and changed into a 3D flower form. And this is only the beginning; users may modify the system and increase its functions for previously unattainable 3D printed creations since the control application is completely hackable. The researchers also successfully produced a model of the respiratory system including lungs and trachea, constructed of alginate inks and printed within a support bath, demonstrating the capability of the Printer.HM to build complex tissue architecture.
First author and Assistant Professor at the University of Macau, Dr Iek Man Lei, formerly pursued a PhD at Cambridge’s Biointerface Research Group.
Dr Lei said, “In terms of the future of 3D printing innovation employing soft, biological, and sustainable material architectures, Printer.HM is a viable alternative due to its flexible features, open design, and reasonable price (ranging from £900 to £1,900). The functionality of the Printer.HM may be further expanded by the research community thanks to the modular architecture, creating limitless opportunities for new designs. Other advantages include the printhead’s compatibility with smaller-sized syringes, which are desirable in small-scale biological applications, and how simple it is for people without CAD experience to modify the print path using the picture geometry input. This is especially useful for managing the morphing behaviours of stimuli-responsive hydrogels.”
Added she, “Printer.HM has the potential to pave the way for cutting-edge 3D printing in a variety of industries, including food, soft robotics, tissue engineering, and environmentally friendly material processing. The DIY research community will benefit from its open design, affordability, greater customizability, and all-in-one features as a viable alternative to current commercial printers.”
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