Digital Biomanufacturing Enabling Multimode 4D Bioprinting
William G Whitford,
Strategic Solutions Leader,
GE Healthcare Life Sciences
3D bioprinting is the deposition of microchannels or droplets of a polymer and/or cell dispersion (bioink) to create 3D tissue-like structures that includes living cells. 4D bioprinting adds the extra dimension of time supporting the activity of smart, environmentally responsive biological structures and tissues. Many types of printing technologies are now used in bioprinting and each require appropriate manufacturing equipment, procedures and materials. Digital biomanufacturing orchestrates such concepts as increased monitoring, data handling, control algorithms, machine-learning and process modeling to a new level of process understanding, prediction and control. The IIoT, Big Data and Cloud technologies insure that the (historical and real-time) data being collected can be employed productively in richer data management, analysis and model generation. This leads to such values as more rapid process development as well as more comprehensive process control, automation and self-learning autonomation. Digital biomanufacturing will assist in the modeling and imaging required to recapitulate the (often personalized) complex and heterogeneous architecture of functional tissues and organs. It will also provide the required coordination and dynamic control of consequent complex tomographic information and models, multimode 3D printing and biofabrication processes, as well as such ancillary procedures as the environmental control of bioinks and nascent constructs.
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