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3D bioprinting has emerged as a promising technology in tissue engineering, allowing for the precise fabrication of complex structures to mimic native tissues. Coaxial bioprinting enhances the complexity of printed structures by extruding multiple materials in concentric layers. However, costly commercial systems and a lack of Do-it-Yourself (DIY) guides for coaxial 3D bioprinting limit the wider adoption of this technology. This study presents a detailed description of modifying a commercial 3D printer to a coaxial 3D bioprinting system that simultaneously drives two syringe pump extruders connected to a coaxial nozzle. The system was validated using a soft alginate-gelatin hydrogel core and a load-bearing methylcellulose-based (MC) hydrogel shell. Shape fidelity of the 3D printed structures was evaluated for core-shell extrusion ratio, coaxial nozzle configuration, and in-situ crosslinking of the hydrogel core. Employing optimized printing settings allowed the fabrication of complex scaffold structures with a gradual transition between the extrusion of core and shell material. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) encapsulated in varying alginate concentrations were printed, maintaining shape fidelity and high cell viability. In conclusion, we developed a cost-effective DIY coaxial 3D bioprinter capable of extruding soft cell-laden hydrogels that are not printable by conventional extrusion bioprinting. This printer presents an easy to build and modify platform to encourage a wider audience to utilize and tailor coaxial bioprinting for their specific requirements.

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has emerged as a revolutionary approach in the life sciences, combining multiple disciplines such as computer engineering, materials science, robotics, and biomedical engineering. This innovative technology enables the production of cellular constructs using bio-inks, and differs from conventional 3D printing by incorporating living cells. The present work addresses the conversion of a commercial thermoplastic 3D printer into a low-cost bioprinter. The modification addresses the challenges of the high cost of commercial bioprinters, limited adaptability, and specialized personnel requirements. This modification uses an extrusion-based bioprinting method that is particularly popular in research due to its viscosity tolerance and versatility. The individual steps, including replacing the extruder with a syringe pump, rebuilding the electronic motherboard, and configuring the firmware, are explained in detail. The work aims at providing access to bioprinting technology so that laboratories with modest resources can take advantage of the immense potential of this technology. This modification resulted in improved resolution, allowing submicron movements, which is comparable to some of the commercially available bioprinters. The accuracy of the modified printer was validated using hydrogel bioprinting tests, suggesting that it is suitable for broader applications in regenerative medicine.

Light-based bioprinter manufacturing technology is still prohibitively expensive for organizations that rely on accessing three-dimensional biological constructs for research and tissue engineering endeavors. Currently, most of the bioprinting systems are based on commercial-grade-based systems or modified DIY (do it yourself) extrusion apparatuses. However, to date, few examples of the adoption of low-cost equipment have been found for light-based bioprinters. The requirement of large volumes of bioinks, their associated cost, and the lack of information regarding the parameter selection have undermined the adoption of this technology. This paper showcases the retrofitting and assessing of a low-cost Light-Based 3D printing system for tissue engineering. To evaluate the potential of a proposed design, a manufacturability test for different features, machine parameters, and Gelatin Methacryloyl (GelMA) concentrations for 7.5% and 10% was performed. Furthermore, a case study of a previously seeded hydrogel with C2C12 cells was successfully implemented as a proof of concept. On the manufacturability test, deviational errors were found between 0.7% to 13.3% for layer exposure times of 15 and 20 s. Live/Dead and Actin-Dapi fluorescence assays after 5 days of culture showed promising results in the cell viability, elongation, and alignment of 3D bioprinted structures. The retrofitting of low-cost equipment has the potential to enable researchers to create high-resolution structures and three-dimensional in vitro models.