Syringe Printing with Plant Cells
This project focuses on the development of a syringe-based 3D printer capable of direct printing of plant cells suspending a an agar-based media.The primary accomplishment of the work to date are:
• development of the printer with a pneumatically controlled syringe housed in a hot water jacket, with additional thermal and aseptic controls
• formulations of materials to provide proper phase transition and cell support
• development of syringe tools in Xylinus, a 3D printer control platform in Rhino/Grasshopper
• designing and printing simple structures capable of holding 3D shape
Nascent work has been done regarding:
• testing cell culturing protocols and proving survival of printing process
• designing processes for sterile growth and development of plant cells