Proposal

Narrative

The objective of this acquisition is to educate undergraduate/graduate students with 3D-printing tissues for biomedical applications using a 3D bioprinter. A 3D bioprinter is an instrument used to print any cell line into any geometry for a wide array of biomedical applications such as biomedical devices, bone scaffolds, dental implants, disease modeling, microfluidics, electroactive tissue, organoids, tissue engineering, vasculature. A 3D bioprinter has compatibility with a variety of commercial bioinks and customized biomaterials. This flexibility feature of a 3D bioprinter allows students to develop their own bioinks, for example, nanomaterials, photocurable biopolymers, hydrogels, shear thinning biomaterials, and so on. The development of customized bioinks will necessarily promote the advancement of education in the major fields of materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, biomedical engineering, and biochemistry and chemistry. However, there is no such a 3D bioprinter available at FAU Boca campus for education. The unavailability of this instrument hinders the educational opportunity for undergraduate students, also limits the DIS-based or OURI research development of students. This Techfee proposal proposes to acquire a 3D bioprinter to educate students with 3D printing tissues and organs. The 3D bioprinter proposed here is manufactured by a leading manufacturer of 3D bioprinter (Cellink, information is attached). This proposed 3D bioprinter has many functions to meet a variety of applications and education needs for FAU students. Once this 3D bioprinter is installed at FAU, at least 200 students from mechanical engineering, material science, biochemistry, biomedical science, biomedical engineering will receive benefit from the instrument. This instrument will be freely accessible to all the students. After the completion of this project, at least 200 students will continue to obtain the educational benefit of 3D bioprinter.

Facilities

No renovations or upgrades of facilities are required. This instrument will be placed in the lab that allows easy access to lab courses and faculty members in the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering.

Hardware Requirements

The existing power outlets are suitable for this instrument. No extra hardware is required.

Software Requirements

This instrument comes with a printing control software. No extra software is required. This instrument is a self-contained, but can be connected to any other computer loaded with the supplied software.

Personnel Costs

No personnel expense is needed. Dr. Kang will be in charge of its installment and testing, and will train and supervise first-time users (TAs, instructors and undergraduate students) and co-ordinate its usage and maintenance.

Other Costs

There is a small cost for bioinks. For education purpose, a regular bioink with photocurable polymers will be purchased for course demonstrations and student hands-on practices. The cost for 3 years of the project period would be estimated $1,000-$1,500.

Timeline

March, 2024, awards announcement. Within one week of award announcement, updated quotations are requested from three vendors (Cellink, TissueLab, MicroSLA). One of them will be selected to place the order based on the price and resolution of the printer. April, 2024, release of the fund. The purchase order will be sent out. May-July, 2024, arrival, setting up and testing of the instrument. Within days of its arrival, the instrument will be set up and tested. On-site training is arranged. August, 2024, it will be first used for the Fall course Biomaterials (BME4100, BME6105). Then, it will be put into full use for other courses including Intro Microfluidics BioMEMS (BME4881, BME6585), Intro to Biomed Engineering(BME5000), Nanotechnology (BME4571,BME6572), Tissue Engineering (BME6334). Other departments may also gain access, with the approval of OME Department Chair.

Sustainability

This instrument needs regular maintenances but it has a high level of safety and flexibility. Any maintenance cost will be mainly responded by the manager Dr. Kang and possibly shared by individual course instructors and faculty members who use it. There is small cost for consumables each year. This instrument is expected to be used by lab courses for years.

Resource Matching

There is no need for resource matching.

Implementing Organization

The shipping cost is included in the request. There will be no additional cost associated with implement of this instrument. OME Department will put Dr. Kang in charge of this instrument for training and managing its usage and maintenance. It will be placed in a lab in Behavior Science building that allows students in Biomedical Engineering related courses or OURI research students to access.