FELIXprinters presents its first bioprinter

Close to a year ago FELIXprinters, a Dutch manufacturer of desktop 3D printers, announced the premiere of its bioprinter. As part of the this project, the manufacturer has established cooperation with several scientific and research centers to develop a device that meets the requirements of scientific environments. Now FELIXprinters presented the effects of the implemented project in the form of a ready, commercially available device.

The device was first presented at last year’s Formnext. Manufacturers ensure that they are already in the middle of the first pre-order orders.

The Dutch manufacturer has in its product offer 3D printers, producing from thermoplastic materials – Pro 3, Pro L and Pro XL. FELIX BIOprinter complements the device offer and is primarily dedicated to applications in the medical industry and research and development projects.

A number of solutions have been implemented in the device, such as:

• system of two printing heads made of liquid and semi-liquid materials; modular heads allow for quick replacement and give the possibility of simultaneous production from various materials, allowing the production of complex biological structures
• adaptation to standard laboratory equipment (syringes, petri dishes or agar plates)
• the possibility of sterilizing printheads
• cooling of printheads
• heated / cooled working platform
• automatic calibration of the work table and intuitive positioning of the syringe extruding the material; the manufacturer ensures that the applied measuring system guarantees high quality printing from the first layer
• automatic extrusion system that allows greater control over the extrusion process
• bioprinting possible with a minimum resolution of 50 microns at a recommended speed of 20 mm/s.

Wilgo Feliksdal, co-founder of FELIXprinters, emphasizes that their proprietary 3D bio-printer is the result of cooperation between engineers and an interdisciplinary team, which includes biofarbying experts from the Danish Technical University (DTU). Due to the affordable price of their product, manufacturers want to increase the availability of this type of equipment and expand awareness about the possibilities of the 3D printing method.

Among the applications of its 3D printing system, the manufacturer mentions, among others the ability to create scaffolds or test new substances for the needs of experimental treatments. The device is compatible with materials with a wide range of density and viscosity, which makes it a universal tool for research and development in various areas.

Source: www.felixprinters.com