What if your 3D printer had eyes and a brain? That is the idea behind GRACE, a printing technique developed by a team at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. It is a workflow that combines volumetric printing with artificial intelligence, allowing the machine to actively participate in the design phase. For example, it could understand where the cells are in the bio-ink and create a network of blood vessels around them. This represents a major advance for the medical field, though it is still in its early stages.
Bio-printing is making progress every day; that is undeniable. If you follow the news, you have likely noticed the breakthroughs and obstacles that some researchers have managed to overcome. Many challenges remain, of course. One of them is the creation of functional blood vessels that can deliver oxygen and nutrients to the cells. Current bio-printing techniques require designing these vessel networks before knowing where the cells are in the bio-ink. It is difficult to support these living structures without knowing their exact location.
The GRACE process
Riccardo Levato is a professor at Utrecht University and leads the Levato Lab, which developed the GRACE process (Generative, Adaptive, Context-Aware 3D printing). With his team, he aimed to create a more efficient, intelligent, and reliable solution for bio-printing. Early on, he turned to volumetric printing. Instead of depositing layers of cells one by one, a photosensitive gel is solidified all at once to form the complete structure. Riccardo Levato explains, “To build a structure, we project a series of light patterns into a spinning tube filled with light-sensitive gel and cells. Where the light beams converge, the material solidifies. This creates a full 3D object in one go, without having to touch the cells.” The process is faster and less harmful to the cells.
This technique requires knowing the precise location of the cells to achieve the best possible print while preserving them. The team developed a system with a laser light that can map the chemical and structural composition of the material being printed. Based on this information, the machine selects the optimal geometry to produce. The process relies on artificial intelligence, 3D imaging, computer vision, and parametric modeling. Sammy Florczak, a PhD student in the lab, helped develop the process. He says, “In the past, printing always depended on the designer’s blueprint. Now, GRACE contributes to the design itself. The printer ‘sees’ what kind of cells are in the material, and where they are. Then, using AI tools, it creates a matching design for the object to be printed. This new printer essentially has its own ‘eyes’, the laser-based imaging, and ‘brain,’ the new AI software. That level of customization leads to tissues that survive and function better.”
Formation of the blood vessel network based on the presence of cells in the bio-ink
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*All Photo Credits: Riccardo Levato