Nils Lindner, M.Sc.

3D-bioprinting opens up a wide range of technological applications and is thus receiving increasing scientific and industrial interest. In the context of regenerative medicine, cultured organs or biomimetic implants can help overcome the shortage of donor organs and establish innovative implant technologies, Organs-on-Chips (OoC) enable personalized as well as animal-free drug development, and cultured meat has the potential to displace factory farming. Currently, however, technological developments in this field are still facing hurdles in the form of high manual labor in the laboratory, high regulatory standards as well as high costs, which prevent market entry. A logical way to overcome these hurdles could be the increased use of automation technology and process monitoring.

As part of the field of “BioMedical Printing Technology”, I conduct research in the area of automation of 3D-bioprinting processes. This involves considering both the actual printing process and adjacent phases along the process chain. That comprises robotic placement and manipulation of substrates for OoC-applications as well as camera-based evaluation and assessment of hydrogel droplets using artificial intelligence methods. Furthermore, the use of specific sensors as well as the merging of sensor data for process monitoring and automated adjustment of the corresponding process parameters are investigated.