Pietro Terranova (Garching, DE; Palermo, IT; Pittsburgh, PA, US), Kilian Arthur Maria Mueller (Garching, DE; München, DE), Professor Antonio Pantano (Palermo, IT), Professor Antonio D'Amore (Pittsburgh, PA, US; Palermo, IT), Prof. Dr. Petra Mela (Garching, DE; München, DE)
Abstract text (incl. figure legends and references)
Introduction: Due to insufficient synergy between material composition and organization, none of the current bio-fabrication strategies has shown the ability to recreate biological structures with the functional richness and multiscale structure of living tissues. Among others, Melt ElectroWriting (MEW) is a promising technique that enables accurately controlled deposition of fibers in the range of 5 to 50 µm. However, it is usually performed on planar or cylindrical collectors or onto simple 3D geometries without major concavities due to the lack of standard tri-axis fabrication platforms to constantly adjust the relative distance and orientation between the collector's surface and the needle. Objectives: In this study, we introduce a new multi-axis platform to perform the electro-deposition process with extended dexterity. Materials & methods: Starting from an open-source project, we upgraded a five-axis platform with high voltage connections and a MEW extruding tool to perform a multi-axis poly(?-caprolactone) (PCL) electro-writing on different collectors with anatomically relevant geometries. The deposition path was designed and simulated using a path generator tool built on the visual scripting language Grasshopper, which runs within the commonly used CAD software Rhinoceros 3D. Results: Results showed a unique capability to fabricate complex fibrous scaffolds with controlled microarchitecture and complex 3D geometry at the macroscale. The new kinematics of the system allows to keep the relative distance between the needle and the collector's surface at a fixed gap by constantly adjusting the coordinates. Moreover, the orientation of the needle is always perpendicular to the surface, avoiding irregularities in the deposition process. Conclusions: The new platform introduced in this work sets the base for fabricating a new generation of scaffolds closely mimicking complex living tissues' functionality and multiscale structure.