MRI: Acquisition of a High-resolution Multi-material Printing System

Tufts University, Medford MA

Investigators

Abstract

The objective of this proposal is to obtain support for the purchase of a state-of-the-art, ultra-high-resolution, 3-dimensional printing system for rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing of parts with complex shapes and complicated material properties. The printing system will find its primary use in the activities of the Tufts University biomechanics, biology and biomedical engineering groups. The term "rapid prototyping" refers to the automated construction of physical objects directly from computer aided design or animation software. A variety of competing rapid prototyping technologies are now commercially available. However, for our purposes, the least costly, easiest to use, fastest and most flexible technology in terms of the variety of different materials that can be processed to fabricate parts is 3-dimensional printing. In this approach, photopolymer liquids are forced through inkjet print heads to create the layers of the part, which then are cured and fused together by ultraviolet light. The printing system will be the centerpiece of a biomimetic biomechanics facility, in which it will be used to fabricate essential parts that are the basis of the research activities of the Tufts University biomechanics group, and that cannot be produced by any other method. Use of this printing system in our interdisciplinary approach to biomechanics will lead to (1) major breakthroughs in the understanding of biologic mechanical systems and (2) novel applications of biologically inspired principles to engineer mechanical devices and systems. A particularly novel aspect of this work is that we seek to understand the role of tissue material properties in living movements and to exploit materials to show similar properties to design, build and control devices emulating biologic mechanical systems. Thus acquisition of the printing system will significantly advance the field of biomechanics, by providing a crucial part of the key instrumentation used in a novel and innovative, biologically inspired, closed loop research and design facility. By allowing the fabrication of complex parts with advanced, non-uniform material properties, acquisition of the 3D printing system will permit us to undertake a large set of projects that are presently not possible due to part fabrication limitations. These projects will be central to the biomimetic biomechanics facility, allowing us to design and fabricate novel biomimetic devices and systems. Development of such devices and systems can in due course significantly impact understanding of biomechanical systems and thereby underlie new biologically inspired research and design approaches. Furthermore, the proposed project will permit the PIs to continue to engage undergraduate as well as graduate students in our ongoing research efforts, expanding the research training, educational experience and opportunities available to the students involved. Moreover, formal courses in which the printing system will be used have been identified from the Tufts Departments of Biology, Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering, and the Tufts Gordon Institute. In addition, as part of the process of recruitment of students into our projects, full attention will be given to the infrastructure in place at Tufts for recruiting and retaining women and underrepresented minorities in research. These include the New England Board of Higher Education Excellence through Diversity Program, a major forum for recruitment of underrepresented minority students, and formal ongoing outreach programs in Computer Science, Biomedical Engineering and robotics, as well as the Tufts School of Medicine NIH-funded minority outreach program, which has been highly successful in attracting underrepresented undergraduate students to summer internships for the last ten years.