Early application-driven process development
In February 2020, the RESTORE project documented the start of printability testing for a nanocellulose/alginate bioink developed by the University of Gothenburg. The work was carried out under 3DTech using the Brinter bioprinting platform as part of the project task to improve bioprinting accuracy and efficiency for nano-enabled cartilage microtissues.
Visco Tool and first test structures
The initial experiments used the mechanically driven endless-piston Visco Tool printhead with a 250 µm inner-diameter needle. Grid, S-line and tube geometries were printed and evaluated for line width and post-printing dimensional stability.
- Nanocellulose/alginate bioink supplied by the University of Gothenburg.
- Mechanically driven Visco Tool extrusion.
- 250 µm needle for the early printability trials.
- Reported printed line width of approximately 350–400 µm at 3 mm/s.
- Printed structures maintained their shape after crosslinking and overnight incubation.
From printability toward living cartilage constructs
The project planned subsequent evaluation of cell viability with chondrocytes embedded in the bioink. This early work is a useful historical example of the application-first engineering model: material behaviour, printhead technology, process parameters and biological requirements were developed together rather than as separate components.