Advanced Soft Robotic System for In Situ 3D Bioprinting and Endoscopic Surgery.

Journal: Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany)
PMID: 36808494

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting technology offers great potential in the treatment of tissue and organ damage. Conventional approaches generally rely on a large form factor desktop bioprinter to create in vitro 3D living constructs before introducing them into the patient's body, which poses several drawbacks such as surface mismatches, structure damage, and high contamination along with tissue injury due to transport and large open-field surgery. In situ bioprinting inside a living body is a potentially transformational solution as the body serves as an excellent bioreactor. This work introduces a multifunctional and flexible in situ 3D bioprinter (F3DB), which features a high degree of freedom soft printing head integrated into a flexible robotic arm to deliver multilayered biomaterials to internal organs/tissues. The device has a master-slave architecture and is operated by a kinematic inversion model and learning-based controllers. The 3D printing capabilities with different patterns, surfaces, and on a colon phantom are also tested with different composite hydrogels and biomaterials. The F3DB capability to perform endoscopic surgery is further demonstrated with fresh porcine tissue. The new system is expected to bridge a gap in the field of in situ bioprinting and support the future development of advanced endoscopic surgical robots.

Authors

  • Mai Thanh Thai
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Phuoc Thien Phan
    Robotics Research Center, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
  • Hien Anh Tran
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
  • Chi Cong Nguyen
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
  • Trung Thien Hoang
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  • James Davies
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
  • Jelena Rnjak-Kovacina
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, UNSW Sydney, Kensington Campus, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
  • Hoang-Phuong Phan
    School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
  • Nigel Hamilton Lovell
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
  • Thanh Nho Do
    Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

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