Bioprinting Blog

With the growing popularity of food printers, there is no surprise that a market for 3D Chocolate Printers. We review the pros and cons of the different chocolate printers that are currently on the rise using our intimate knowledge of  chocolate printing . Model:  Chocabyte 3D printer Why you should buy it:  Great value for price Who it’s for:  Beginners with limited or no 3D printing knowledge Pitfalls:  Limited to only 500 units Price Point:  $99 The Chocabyte 3D printer, which debuted at CES 2014, is a marriage of handiwork between designer Quinn Kataitiana and Solid Idea. Limited to just 500 units, the Chocabyte printer is hand-crafted and priced at an astonishing $99. There are currently no other chocolate printers in the market at this price point. No CAD knowledge is necessary as Solid Idea offers a library of chocolate printing templates. Chocabyte runs on a syringe based system which can be purchased from the website. The chocolate must be warmed up

New Methods  A new method in bioprinting has been developed by an Oxford University spin-off company, OxSyBio, that will enable researchers to print and arrange cells in pre-determined 3D architectures. This novel method leverages the use of a lipid coating which encapsulates cells within protective nanolitre droplets during the printing process. Dr Alexander Graham, the lead author and scientist of OxSynBio, demonstrated the application of this technique with human embryonic kidney (HEK) cells and ovine mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs). He was able to achieve high-resolution 3D geometries in the range of less than 200 microns while maintaining high cell viability. Learn more about this exciting work at their Nature publication –  Scientific Reports .  New Materials  In the most recent development, a clay-based bioink was developed and shown to provide improved drug delivery properties. A team of researchers from University of Southhampton and the Technische Universitat Dr