Designed for use with the company’s own 3D bioprinters, the digital multifluidic printing tool head is currently undergoing pilot testing with a limited number of customers. Aimed at research institutions and pharmaceutical companies, the device is defined by its extensive material capabilities and hopes to enable higher-precision tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications, including tissue damage repair, biological function replacements, and drug delivery applications.
Tomi Kalpio, CEO of Brinter, said, “The key to achieving this world-first was the accumulated experiences of our team members utilizing our proprietary hardware architecture, software, and fluidic automation system knowledge to make complex fluidic circuits, which have near-zero dead volumes to save resources and to avoid cross-contamination with other materials.”
The first multi-material, multifluidic print head
The most noteworthy feature of the new multi-material printhead is its ample tunability. It is possible to modify the hardware with a customized number of ink cartridges with different temperature control and imaging options to make it compatible with a wide variety of material types. According to Brinter, the printhead is capable of printing up to 10-20+ different material combinations in a single build.
Without this tunability, a new printhead might be required for every type of printing material, which is greatly inconvenient when processing a variety of materials. The list of material capabilities of Brinter® platform includes granulates, pastes, liquids, hydrogels with living cells, metal-infused binders, and even polymers.
Kalpio states that the print head serves to bridge the gap between the micro/nano/pico/femto fluidic environments and the bioprinting environment, granting users the utmost level of deposition precision.
As such, the number of potential Brinter use cases is significantly expanded. The company claims customers will be able to generate gradients across their bioprinted structures, program the cells in the droplets to make personalized drugs and even functionalize printed materials to perhaps one-day target cancer cells or heal and regenerate tissues.
3D bioprinting with Brinter
Established in 2020 as a spin-out from the 3D printing service bureau 3DTech Ltd, Brinter specializes in 3D bioprinters, inks, and related hardware for customers in the pharmaceutical, biotech, research, and cosmetics sectors. The company currently has clients in over ten countries, such as the USA, the UK, and Germany, including Bayer, Nanoform, VTT, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, University of Oulu, and the University of Helsinki.
The company’s debut bioprinter is its flagship Brinter® One, a multi-material deposition-based machine that works with both stiff and soft cell-laden hydrogels. More recently, in November 2021, Brinter also launched an entry-level model called the Brinter® Core. Designed to make bioprinting as accessible as possible, the Core is around half the size and cost of its predecessor.
