Development of a Low-Cost Extrusion-Based 3D Printer for Hydrogel Printing

Abstract

Extrusion-based 3D printing is widely used for the fabrication of hydrogel-based constructs in tissue engineering. However, the high cost of commercial bioprinters limits their accessibility. In this work, a low-cost extrusion-based 3D printer was developed by modifying a commercially available 3D printer. The standard printhead was replaced with a custom-designed syringe extruder, and the printer control software was adapted for the extrusion of soft hydrogel materials.
The modification process involved the design and assembly of a syringe extrusion module, optimization of printing software, integration of the extrusion system with the printer, and subsequent calibration of the platform. The printing performance was assessed by fabricating square, circular, and grid-shaped structures using sodium alginate solutions with concentrations ranging from 1.5 to 4 wt.% and dispensing needles with diameters of 18G to 27G. Calibration of the system allowed the optimization of printing parameters according to hydrogel viscosity and nozzle size, ensuring stable extrusion and reproducible formation of hydrogel structures.
The developed platform represents an affordable and versatile solution for future extrusion-based bioprinting applications. Its adaptable design enables further integration with cell-laden hydrogels, providing a basis for tissue engineering while maintaining the advantages of a low-cost system.
The research was funded by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 26-79-10340).

Speaker

Mariia Sergeevna Kuzmina
Centre for Soft Matter and Physics of Fluids, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, 2nd Baumanskaya street 5, 105005 Moscow, Russia  
Russia

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