Finnish bioprinting start-up Brinter has released its new extrusion-based Visco Bio medical print head for its Brinter bioprinters. The new modular print heads enable nearly zero dead volume, meaning that expensive medical grade material waste is cut to a minimal level.
The heads mean more material diversity for dispensing, repeatability with a continuous and precise printing process, and zero cross-contamination due to the use of a single cartridge per material. Due to the dispensing geometry, a constant volume per revolution is always conveyed and precisely applied, meaning almost zero dead volume can be achieved. The programmable suck-back ensures clean start and finish points.
Tomi Kalpio, CEO of Brinter, said: “The release of this print head means that basic requirements towards Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are met, for example, due to no cross-contamination with the use of a single cartridge per material, used together with the disinfecting blue light module we published in December. Likewise, researchers, pharma industry, and universities benefit from the repeatability of printing results being increased due to continuous and precise printing processes.
“The practical applications of the technology align with Brinter’s vision to improve our quality of life by shortening and enhancing the productivity of the scientific discovery process and bio-manufacturing. This pushes forward the ambition of printing human spare parts such as hearts and kidneys, as well as more personalised treatment through cancer research and drug testing.”
Brinter’s flagship model Brinter One is a modular bioprinter that can print multi-material and highly complex tissue structures in 3D, providing all the basic features needed for bioprinting. The device can print both stiff and soft materials, including but not limited to liquids and hydrogels with living cells, bio-paste, metal with binder material, and plastic while being easy to pack up and set up in a different lab or cleanroom in minutes.
Visco Bio was launched in close collaboration with Puredyne who provided the innovative market technology.
Felix Gruber, business development manager at Puredyne, said: “Brinter is an innovative and strong partner for us, with whom we already have had a close relationship for some years. The Puredyne print head with its involved progressive cavity technology enables a totally new precision in extrusion-based bioprinting. Moreover, our solution gives the operator the required process and material flexibility in the handling of low to high viscosity biomaterials.”
Customers of Brinter include bio and pharmaceutical companies like Nanoform, as well as research organisations like VTT, BEST group at the University of Glasgow, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, the University of Oulu, University of Turku, Åbo Akademi, Tampere University, and the University of Helsinki.
Last month, Brinter announced its cooperation with LED Tailor to introduce a new disinfecting blue light feature embedded in its multi-material 3D bioprinting solution. The system enables the safe production of e.g. tissue models and drugs, and minimises the need for separate cleanrooms, making bioprinters more portable and safe.