Bio-Ink Extrusion Control for Large-Scale Artificial Meat
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for producing artificial meat and organs using bioink are inefficient for large-scale production and fail to accurately reproduce the texture and shape of actual meat, limiting consumer acceptance.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus are developed to store and monitor bioink, enabling the extrusion of large amounts of bioink through an extrusion device, which includes a monitoring module to maintain predetermined conditions and an extrusion module to discharge bioink, thereby producing artificial meat with texture and shape similar to actual meat.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If 3D printing technology is used to extrude bioink, then artificial meat can be produced with controlled shape and structure, but the production speed is slow and large-scale production is inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the bioink supply into multiple storage containers (first container and second container) that can be independently managed and extruded through separate extrusion devices, enabling parallel processing and increased production capacity while maintaining shape control
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically selects which container to extrude from based on real-time monitoring of bioink states (temperature, viscosity, homogeneity), allowing flexible adaptation to maintain production efficiency and product quality under varying conditions
2Device complexity
If conventional extrusion methods are used, then production process is simple, but the texture and cross-sectional shape of artificial meat cannot accurately reproduce actual meat
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different storage conditions and monitoring parameters to different bioink containers, with each container's bioink being extruded based on its specific state characteristics, enabling precise control over the final texture and shape properties of the artificial meat
Solution Approach 2:
The monitoring module continuously detects bioink states (temperature, viscosity, homogeneity) and provides feedback to control the extrusion process, ensuring that only bioink meeting predetermined conditions is extruded, thereby guaranteeing consistent texture and shape quality
3Productivity
If large amounts of bioink are extruded quickly, then production efficiency increases, but it becomes difficult to maintain predetermined conditions of bioink
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing bioink into multiple containers that can be prepared and monitored independently, the system enables parallel processing where multiple containers are readied in advance, allowing rapid extrusion while each container's conditions are maintained separately through dedicated monitoring
Solution Approach 2:
The system prepares and monitors multiple containers of bioink in advance before extrusion, ensuring that predetermined conditions are established and maintained prior to the high-speed extrusion process, thereby guaranteeing reliability even during rapid production
Data Source
AI summary
This apparatus produces artificial meat using bio-ink. It has a plurality of modules and at least one processor to control the plurality of modules. In some examples, at least one processor controls the monitoring module to maintain a predetermined condition of the bio-ink, and it controls the extrusion module to extrude and discharge a portion of the bio-ink. By usisng the bio-ink, the artificial meant closely mimics real meat in texture, appearance, and taste.