Automated melt electrowritting platform with real-time process monitoring

Towards industry-ready additive manufacturing: AI-enabled closed-loop control for 3D melt electrowriting

Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an emerging high-resolution 3D printing technology used in biomedical engineering, regenerative medicine, and soft robotics. Its transition from academia to industry faces challenges such as slow experimentation, low printing throughput, poor reproducibility, and user-dependent operation, largely due to the nonlinear and multiparametric nature of the MEW process. To address these challenges, we applied computer vision and machine learning to monitor and analyze the process in real-time through imaging of the MEW jet between the nozzle-collector gap. To collect data for training we developed an automated data collection methodology that eases the experimental time from days to hours. A feedforward neural network, working in concert with optimization methods and a feedback loop, is used to develop closed-loop control ensuring reproducibility of the printed parts. We demonstrate that machine learning allows streamlining the MEW operation via closed-loop control of the highly nonlinear 3D printing technology.

Advances in melt electrowriting for cardiovascular applications

Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an electric-field-assisted additive biofabrication technique that has brought significant advancements to bioinspired scaffold design for soft tissue engineering and beyond. Owing to its targeted microfiber placement, MEW has become a powerful platform technology for the fabrication of in vitro disease models up to functional biohybrid constructs that are investigated in vivo to reach clinical translation soon. This work provides a concise overview of this rapidly evolving field by highlighting the key contributions of MEW to cardiovascular tissue engineering. Specifically, we i) pinpoint the methods to introduce microvascular networks in thick 3D constructs benefitting from (sacrificial) MEW microfibers, ii) report MEW-based concepts for small-diameter vascular grafts and stents, iii) showcase how contracting cardiac tissues can profit from the tunable structure-property relationship of MEW scaffolds, and iv) address how complete regenerative heart valves can be built on complex fiber scaffold architectures that recapitulate J-shaped tensile properties and tissue heterogeneity. Lastly, we touch on novel biomaterial advancements and discuss the technological challenges of MEW to unlock the full potential of this transformative technology.

Materials and Strategies to Enhance Melt Electrowriting Potential

Melt electrowriting (MEW) is an emerging additive manufacturing (AM) technology that enables the precise deposition of continuous polymeric microfibers, allowing for the creation of high-resolution constructs. In recent years, MEW has undergone a revolution, with the introduction of active properties or additional functionalities through novel polymer processing strategies, the incorporation of functional fillers, postprocessing, or the combination with other techniques. While extensively explored in biomedical applications, MEW's potential in other fields remains untapped. Thus, this review explores MEW's characteristics from a materials science perspective, emphasizing the diverse range of materials and composites processed by this technique and their current and potential applications. Additionally, the prospects offered by postprinting processing techniques are explored, together with the synergy achieved by combining melt electrowriting with other manufacturing methods. By highlighting the untapped potentials of MEW, this review aims to inspire research groups across various fields to leverage this technology for innovative endeavors.