Bioassembly Workstation With Six-Axis Printing for Complex Tissue Builds
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current bioprinting technologies lack user-friendly, integrated solutions for designing and fabricating complex tissue structures, requiring expertise in CAD, electronics, and biological sciences, and are limited by the need for large workspaces and sequential layering protocols, making them inaccessible to non-specialized users and inefficient for building complex constructs.
Innovation Solution
A bioassembly system combining Tissue Structure Information Modeling (TSIM) software with a Robotic Bioassembly Workstation (RBW) that enables intuitive, user-friendly design and fabrication of complex tissue structures, allowing for non-sequential planar layering and 3-D surface deposition using a six-axis robotic arm, facilitating compact and versatile bioconstruction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional bioprinting technologies are used, then precise deposition in two dimensional planar coordinates is achieved, but building complex tissue and organ constructs is limited to layer-by-layer protocol resulting in build support complications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from traditional 3-axis layer-by-layer deposition to a 6-axis robotic system that enables deposition on 3-D surfaces of variable topographies. The additional three axes (rotational joints) allow the print head to access and deposit material on complex curved surfaces and internal cavities that cannot be achieved with planar layering, thereby resolving the contradiction between precision and build complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs a dynamic 6-axis robotic arm that can continuously adjust its orientation and position in 3D space, allowing the print head to adapt to varying surface geometries during the printing process. This dynamic capability enables the system to maintain precise deposition control while building complex multi-tissue constructs without the limitations of static layer-by-layer protocols.
2Ease of manufacture
If stand-alone bioprinters are used, then basic dispensing functionality is provided, but user-friendly functionality for CAD-assisted tissue engineering is lacking requiring expertise in multiple fields
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates multiple previously separate functions (CAD software, robotic control, material dispensing, and biological expertise) into a unified bioassembly system. The integrated software automatically handles the complex coordination between design modeling and robotic execution, eliminating the need for users to have separate expertise in CAD, electronics, and biological sciences while maintaining full dispensing functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a universal platform that combines tissue modeling, simulation, and fabrication capabilities in a single integrated workstation. This multi-functional system serves both as a design environment and a fabrication machine, making advanced tissue engineering accessible to users without requiring them to master multiple specialized tools and disciplines.
3Ease of manufacture
If design, printing and assembly are effectuated on different platforms, then basic functionality is maintained, but large work spaces are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent consolidates design, printing, and assembly operations into a single integrated workstation platform. The 6-axis robotic system can perform all these functions within one compact workspace, eliminating the need for separate platforms and reducing the total space required for tissue construct fabrication while maintaining full functionality.
4Adaptability or versatility
If six-axis robotic arm is used, then non-sequential planar layering and 3-D surface deposition capability is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The 6-axis robotic arm serves multiple functions: it positions the print head in 3D space, orients the deposition nozzle to match surface geometry, and enables access to complex internal structures. This multi-functional capability justifies the increased device complexity by providing unparalleled build versatility and the ability to create constructs that are impossible with simpler systems.
Data Source
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AI summary
A bioassembly system having a tissue/object modeling software component fully and seamlessly integrated with a robotic bioassembly workstation component for the computer-assisted design, fabrication and assembly of biological and non-biological constructs. The robotic bioassembly workstation includes a six-axis robot providing the capability for oblique-angle printing, printing by non-sequential planar layering, and printing on print substrates having variable surface topographies, enabling fabrication of more complex bio-constructs including tissues, organs and vascular trees.