Custom FDM-based bioprinter with heated nozzle: optimizing slicer settings for precision printing using a print...

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology
• Bioengineering
• Materials Science

Background:

• Bioprinting microtissues offers superior *in vivo* replication compared to 2D cultures.
• Limited adoption is due to a lack of universal printing benchmarks and high costs of commercial bioprinters.
• Fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers are common but require adaptation for bioprinting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To convert a standard FDM printer into a cost-effective and customizable bioprinter.
• To develop a print quality index (PQI) for optimizing bioprinting parameters.
• To demonstrate the feasibility of printing viable cell-laden hydrogels using the developed method.

Main Methods:

• Modification of a standard FDM printer with biocompatible, autoclavable, and UV-sanitizable components.
• Utilization of a heated FDM printhead and thermal properties of alginate-gelatin bioinks for high-resolution 3D printing.
• Development and application of the print quality index (PQI) to correlate nozzle temperature with bioink flow for slicer setting optimization.

Main Results:

• Successful conversion of an FDM printer into a functional bioprinter.
• Development of the PQI method for reproducible optimization of bioprinting parameters.
• High-quality, dimensionally accurate printing of complex alginate-gelatin structures.
• Demonstration of long-term cell proliferation and viability in HuH7^EGFP cell-laden hydrogels.

Conclusions:

• The developed method significantly increases the accessibility of bioprinting technology.
• The PQI method shows potential as a universal benchmark for bioprinter slicer optimization.
• This approach facilitates advanced bioprinting research for diverse scientific groups.