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Advancements in Adaptive 3D Printing Technology Transform Organism Manipulation
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have developed a groundbreaking adaptive 3D printing system capable of autonomously locating and repositioning organisms for assembly processes. This innovative technology promises to significantly streamline workflows in fields such as bioimaging, cybernetics, cryopreservation, and the integration of living organisms into complex devices.
The findings are documented in Advanced Science, a well-regarded peer-reviewed scientific journal, with a patent application for the technology currently pending.
This sophisticated system is able to track, collect, and precisely place a variety of organisms, including both stationary and mobile subjects, utilizing a real-time visual and spatial data-guided pick-and-place approach. Such adaptability allows the technology to ensure accurate assembly while accommodating diverse movement dynamics.
“The printer can function similarly to a human operator, where the printer serves as hands, the vision system acts as eyes, and the computing unit performs as the brain,” explained Guebum Han, who previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher in mechanical engineering at the University of Minnesota and is the lead author of the published study. “The ability of the printer to adapt on-the-fly to both moving and stationary organisms allows for dynamic assembly in specific configurations.”
Traditionally, this kind of manipulation has been performed manually, requiring intensive training that often resulted in inconsistencies in various organism-based applications. The introduction of this automated system not only reduces the time commitments for researchers but also enhances the consistency and reliability of experimental outcomes.
The implications of this technology are substantial. It stands to increase the throughput of organisms suitable for cryopreservation, facilitate the sorting of live specimens from non-living ones, enable placement on curved surfaces, and allow the integration of organisms with materials into tailored designs. Furthermore, the technology lays the foundation for creating intricate structures that mimic the hierarchical organizations of superorganisms, akin to those observed in ant and bee colonies. This advancement could also stimulate progress in autonomous biomanufacturing, enabling the evaluation and assembly of diverse organisms.
For instance, the system was successfully utilized to enhance cryopreservation techniques for zebrafish embryos, achieving a process speed that was 12 times faster than prior manual techniques. Another application highlighted the system’s capacity to track and manipulate randomly moving beetles, incorporating them into functional devices.
The research team envisions further developments in this technology, including its integration with robotics to increase portability for field studies. This capability could empower researchers to gather organisms or samples from environments that are typically difficult to access.
Alongside Han, the University of Minnesota Department of Mechanical Engineering team comprised graduate research assistants Kieran Smith and Daniel Wai Hou Ng, Assistant Professor JiYong Lee, Professors John Bischof and Michael McAlpine, and former postdoctoral researchers Kanav Khosla and Xia Ouyang. This project also benefited from collaboration with the Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advanced Technologies for the Preservation of Biological Systems (ATP-Bio).
The research received support from the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and Regenerative Medicine Minnesota.
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