Lab-on-a-Printer (LOP) Platform Technology for 4D Printing and Bioprinting

由拟议工具支持的研究计划将为新兴的3D/4D打印领域做出重大贡献，使我们的团队能够探索和开发最初由Walus提出的新型打印机实验室（LOP）技术。 虽然许多人已经非常熟悉3D打印，但4D打印背后的新颖概念框架将使全新的设备和技术能够采用本研究计划中开发的独特3D打印系统进行开发。4D打印背后的基本思想涉及通过3D打印制造后自组装和重新配置的结构。时间维度（第四维）以一种非常重要的方式打开了打印设备和结构的潜在配置空间-因为结构及其组件可以在打印后重新形成。Walus正在开发的打印机实验室技术在打印过程中提供了对墨水成分的控制，并实现了4D打印工艺和结构的组合开发，因为可以在不修改任何输入材料的情况下修改单个打印变体的成分和结构。这种能力是通过将微流体模块集成到3D打印系统的打印头中来实现的，该打印系统可以在运行中操纵材料成分;例如，通过集成混合。 拟议的打印头流动动力学表征站由倒置显微镜，高速成像系统，流量控制器，压电驱动器放大器和计算机组成，以控制和同步组件之间的活动，并将允许我们的团队设计，表征，优化和应用UBC正在积极研究的新型LOP技术。所提出的研究工具将提供高速成像能力的流动，材料切换，并在微流体LOP打印头的混合动力学。由于这些过程不是静止的，高速成像能力将使我们能够开发和优化专门用于该应用的新模块和系统，而控制和驱动系统将提供必要的工具来驱动测试中的LOP设备。

The research program supported by the proposed tools will make a significant contribution to the emerging area of 3D/4D printing by enabling our group to explore and develop novel lab-on-a-printer (LOP) technology originally proposed by Walus. While many people are already quite familiar with 3D printing, the novel conceptual framework behind 4D printing will enable radically new devices and technology to be developed employing the unique 3D printing systems developed in this research program. The basic idea behind 4D printing involves structures that self-assemble and reconfigure after fabrication through 3D printing. The temporal dimension (the 4th D) opens up the potential configuration space of printed devices and structures in a very significant way - since the structure and its components can re-form post-printing. The proposed lab-on-a-printer technology being developed by Walus provides control over ink composition during the printing process and enables combinatorial development of 4D printing processes and structures as the composition and structure of individual printed variants can be modified without modifying any of the input materials. This capability is enabled by the integration of microfluidic modules into the printhead of a 3D printing system that can manipulate material composition on-the-fly; e.g. via integrated mixing. The proposed printhead flow dynamics characterization station consists of an inverted microscope, high-speed imaging system, flow controller, piezo-driver amplifier, and computer to control and synchronize activities amongst the components and will allow our team to design, characterize, optimize, and apply novel LOP technology being actively researched at UBC. The proposed research tool will provide high speed imaging capability of the dynamics of flow, material switching, and mixing in microfluidic LOP printheads. Since these processes are not stationary, the high speed imaging capability will allow us to develop and optimize new modules and systems specifically for this application, while the control and actuation system will provide the necessary tools to drive the LOP devices under test.