Ferromagnetic soft catheter robots for minimally invasive bioprinting

Abstract

In vivo bioprinting has recently emerged as a direct fabrication technique to create artificial tissues and medical devices on target sites within the body, enabling advanced clinical strategies. However, existing in vivo bioprinting methods are often limited to applications near the skin or require open surgery for printing on internal organs. Here, we report a ferromagnetic soft catheter robot (FSCR) system capable of in situ computer-controlled bioprinting in a minimally invasive manner based on magnetic actuation. The FSCR is designed by dispersing ferromagnetic particles in a fiber-reinforced polymer matrix. This design results in stable ink extrusion and allows for printing various materials with different rheological properties and functionalities. A superimposed magnetic field drives the FSCR to achieve digitally controlled printing with high accuracy. We demonstrate printing multiple patterns on planar surfaces, and considering the non-planar surface of natural organs, we then develop an in situ printing strategy for curved surfaces and demonstrate minimally invasive in vivo bioprinting of hydrogels in a rat model. Our catheter robot will permit intelligent and minimally invasive bio-fabrication.

Low Melting Point Alloys Enabled Stiffness Tunable Advanced Materials

“…For the preparation of LMPA based stiffness tunable materials and devices, achieving personalized customization on‐demand is an essential aspect for future applications. Therefore, further efforts should be paid in developing novel manufacturing technologies, such as 4D printing, [ 154 ] multi‐material hybrid printing, [ 155 ] and even in vivo printing [ 156 ] technology. Moreover, utilizing numerical computational assistance, [ 157 ] like machine deep learning aided structure development and optimization, may be other effective strategies to obtain more complex systems.…”

Development of in situ bioprinting: A mini review

“…Bioprinting of muscle ink in a murine model led to functional muscle recovery, reduced fibrosis, and increased anabolic response compared to untreated injured muscle. In another study, Zhou et al (2021) used a conductive hydrogel biomaterial ink to print 3D structures onto live rat livers and post-mortem pig hearts. The advantage of using conductive biomaterial inks in bioprinting is that these materials have the potential to facilitate the propagation of electrical signals to cells; a process that is critical for cardiac and nerve regeneration (Min et al, 2018).…”

“…The main drawbacks of this technique include its high cost, and poor imaging capability of hard tissues (Mastrogiacomo et al, 2019). Zhou et al (2021) implemented computed tomography (CT) to reconstruct the surface of a rat liver pre-operation. Although CT imaging can be used to visualize soft tissues such as liver, CT is less effective compared to other techniques at differentiating soft tissues which can lead to less accurate modeling (Wood et al, 2018).…”

Functionalizing multi-component bioink with platelet-rich plasma for customized in-situ bilayer bioprinting for wound healing

“…However, in actual clinical practice, the base of the wound is usually uneven and irregular. In-situ bioprinting is an on-site printing strategy that directly deposits cells and biomaterials on the defect after scanning morphological features of the wound after debridement [ 8 ]. 3D scanning of defect geometry dimensions makes it possible for individualized treatment of wounds.…”