TwinPrint: A dual-arm robotic 3D bioprinting solution for multi-material biofabrication of soft matter constructs

Abstract

As the field of three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting gains increased momentum, complex 3D bioprinters are being developed to keep up with the needs of biofabrication and tissue engineering. Cartesian-based linear 3D bioprinters have facilitated the fabrication of 3D biological constructs and scaffolds. However, to achieve meaningful advancement in biofabrication, 3D bioprinters need increased freedom of motion, seamless multi-material printing, full automation, and ease of use. In this paper, we propose TwinPrint, a dual-arm robotic 3D bioprinting system, designed to be compatible with soft bioinks to build multi-material constructs, crucial for creating functional tissue. The uniquely integrated robotic 3D bioprinter—comprising an in-house fabricated coaxial nozzle, two 4-axis robotic arms, six microfluidic pumps, and a software interface—work harmoniously as a single unit. We showcase the development of the Python-based software and Graphical User Interface, integrating all components into a single easy-to-use interface. Due to their human-like and instantaneous gelation properties, peptide-based bioinks were used as printing material to test the system. Developed in our laboratory as an alternative to gelatin- and alginate-based bioinks, they avoided chemical and ultraviolet-crosslinking by solidifying instantaneously under physiological conditions. For system performance testing, acellular and cellular constructs were observed for structural fidelity, multi-material layering, printing accuracy, cell viability, and proliferation. Overall, our proposed system showcases an innovative integration of robotics for biofabrication to expedite the printing process and enable multi-task print protocols. By saving time, increasing degrees of freedom, and expanding printing complexity, we believe TwinPrint is a promising next step for biofabrication.

Keywords

3D bioprinting / Extrusion-based printing / Peptide bioinks / Multi-robot systems / Multi-material construct

Supplemental information

Description for Video S1. Demonstration of the dual-arm bioprinting process with different colored inks to simulate a multi-material print process. The TwinPrint system conducts an acellular print test using the peptide bioink IVZK, with one robotic arm printing green-colored bioink and the other robotic arm printing clear bioink in an alternating layer arrangement. This is done to simulate multi-material experiments and observe layer-by-layer deposition using different color dyes as well as assess print resolution of the fabricated construct.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Panayiotis Bilalis for support with the chemical synthesis of peptide compound IVZK, Eter Othman for initial support with text editing and Aris Konstantinidis for his technical insights.

Funding

This work was financially supported by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology under the base funding for Charlotte A. E. Hauser, under the KAUST-Smart Health Initiative project number: REI/1/4938. Additional funding was provided by Graz University of Technology (TU Graz).

Conflict of interest

Charlotte A. E. Hauser is an Editorial Board Member of this journal, but was not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Zainab N. Khan, Kowther Kahin

Investigation: Zainab N. Khan, Kowther Kahin, Noofa Hammad, Hibatallah Alwazani, Dana M. Alhattab

Methodology: Zainab N. Khan, Dana M. Alhattab

Project administration: Zainab N. Khan

Resources: Charlotte A. E. Hauser, Christian Baumgartner

Software: Noofa Hammad, Hibatallah Alwazani

Supervision: Charlotte A. E. Hauser

Validation: Zainab N. Khan, Noofa Hammad, Kowther Kahin, Hibatallah Alwazani, Dana M. Alhattab

Visualization: Noofa Hammad, Zainab N. Khan, Dana M. Alhattab

Writing-original draft: Noofa Hammad, Zainab N. Khan, Hibatallah Alwazani, Dana M. Alhattab, Charlotte A. E. Hauser

Writing-review & editing: Zainab N. Khan, Noofa Hammad, Dana M. Alhattab, Kowther Kahin, Christian Baumgartner, Charlotte A. E. Hauser

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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