The dispensing with the Multifluidics Tool print head is based on the pneumatic extrusion. The triaxial needle enables printing up to three different materials simultaneously, i.e., the core material, the intermediate material and the outer shell material. Print head is also equipped with middle syringe heating from RT to +66 °C and an integrated UV/Vis LED module emitting at a wavelength of 365 nm, 405 nm or 450 nm.
The dispensing with the Multifluidics Tool print head is based on the pneumatic extrusion. The triaxial needle enables printing up to three different materials simultaneously, i.e., the core material, the intermediate material and the outer shell material. The standard sizes of the triaxial needle channels are: inside needle 26 G (I.D.=0.254 mm), middle needle 19 G (I.D.=0.690 mm) and the outer needle 15 G (I.D.=1.37 mm). In the standard design, all the needle tips have the same length. Custom needles or Custom microfluidic needles having multi-nozzle or a mixer with other inner diameters and tip lengths can be delivered according to a request.
The print head comes with a heating function enabling a constant temperature from RT to +66 °C in the syringe barrel for the core material. In addition, the print head is equipped with an integrated UV/Vis LED module emitting at a wavelength of 365 nm, 405 nm or 450 nm. It allows in situ photocrosslinking of photosensitive bioinks during the deposition process. The Multifluidics Tool is compatible with various commercial and noncommercial low-to-medium viscosity hydrogel bioinks and pastes.
In addition to triaxial/coaxial printing, the Multifluidics Tool may, in the future, be used with a needle having three outlets in a side-by-side or multi-channel (multi-lumen) configuration to produce up to three filaments using different materials. Furthermore, the needle can also be replaced with a microfluidic chip having the ability to mix the various components of the bioink on-the-fly during the printing process. This will enable the printing of gradients of gel stiffness, cell concentrations or immobilized additives, such as nanoparticles.
