Title : Next generation 3D-bioprinting through superior software modelling
Abstract:
The 3D-bioprinting industry has witnessed significant breakthroughs and advancements through the last 10 years, including but not limited to, novel methods of material deposition and highly tuneable bioinks for printing. Whilst the industry has enjoyed a clear advancement in hardware, software has been severely overlooked, and as such end users are faced with additional challenges. One such challenge is the design of complex architectures for bioprinting, in a manner that is easy to use and high throughput. Copner Biotech Ltd has developed a novel and proprietary 3D modelling format; Graphical Rectangular Actual Positional Encoding (GRAPE). GRAPE enables users to create scaffold construct designs using a bottom-up approach, utilising a user-friendly CAD-type interface. GRAPE software is also capable of converting designed construct files into STL format, making this next generation interface easily adoptable to bioprinting workflows. Since the development and validation of GRAPE through 3D modelling and printing of cell culture scaffolds, the company has since gone on to develop a suite of next-generation hardware for bioprinting, powered by GRAPE technology. Most notably, the GRAPE-S1, a microfluidic extrusion bioprinter that is capable of bioprinting highly complex architectures, does not require a condenser or air lines, and has an incredibly small footprint. Copner Biotech Ltd has now filed an extensive portfolio of intellectual property and received a multitude of international awards for its work. Most recently, the company picked up the MediWales Start-Up of the Year Award 2022 and Corporate LiveWire’s UK Biotechnology Company of the Year 2023.
Audience Take Away:
- A novel approach to 3D scaffold design and modelling, essential for downstream bioprinting of physiologically relevant tissue constructs.
- Improved 3D model processing for higher accuracy of complex geometry prints and ease-of-use for the end user.
- New approaches to coupling microfluidics and extrusion bioprinting, in a raster-style method of material deposition.
