Additive manufacturing device for biomaterials
Inventors
Assignees
Publication Number
US-11779466-B2
Publication Date
2023-10-10
Expiration Date
2037-05-11
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Abstract
An additive manufacturing (AM) device for biomaterials comprises a reservoir, a shaft, and a material delivery head. The device can be used for intracorporeal additive manufacturing. Material within the reservoir can be expelled by a mechanical transmission element, for example a syringe pump, a peristaltic pump, an air pressure pump, or a hydraulic pressure pump. The reservoir can be a barrel, a cartridge, or a cassette. The reservoir can narrow into the shaft, and the shaft can terminate into the nozzle. The shaft can house an inner tube. The device can have an actuator joint capable of being mechanically linked to a robotic surgical system. The actuator joint can have a motor that drives the mechanical transmission element.
Core Innovation
The invention provides an additive manufacturing (AM) device specifically designed for the intracorporeal production of biomaterial constructs. This device comprises a reservoir to hold biomaterial, a shaft that may house an inner tube for channeling the biomaterial, and a material delivery head that terminates in a nozzle. The device is intended to be mechanically linked to a robotic surgical system by means of an actuator joint controlled by a motor, enabling highly precise positioning and material delivery at surgical sites within a patient's body.
This invention addresses the limitation in current tissue engineering and additive manufacturing practices, where tissue-engineered implants are created externally and then transferred to the patient, often necessitating open surgery. The absence of a tool capable of integrating regenerative medicine with less invasive robotic endoscopic surgical techniques has created a gap in achieving personalized, in situ tissue regeneration while minimizing surgical morbidity and infection risks.
The AM device allows for the direct, intracorporeal printing of three-dimensional objects such as tissues and organs by expelling biomaterials through the articulated nozzle while under robotic guidance. The system is engineered to operate within the constraints of minimally invasive surgery, using slender form factors compatible with trocar/cannula access and a mechanical transmission element that can be actuated through various means, such as syringe or peristaltic pumps. The delivery head can have multiple degrees of freedom, allowing for precise layer-by-layer deposition of biomaterial at the target surgical site.
Claims Coverage
The patent includes two independent claims, each describing a method for printing a tissue engineering construct inside a patient's body using a robotic surgical system with an articulating arm and end effector, and highlights a set of inventive features.
Intracorporeal printing using a robotic surgical system and additive manufacturing device
A method utilizes an additive manufacturing device releasably mounted to a robotic surgical system's end effector, where the device comprises: - A first mechanical transmission element engaged with the end effector. - A biomaterial reservoir operatively coupled to the mechanical transmission element. - A nozzle in fluid communication with the biomaterial reservoir. The method involves inserting the nozzle into a patient's body at a surgical site, operating the end effector to expel biomaterial from the nozzle, and moving the nozzle while depositing biomaterial to print a tissue engineering construct inside the body.
Layered deposition of biomaterial to synthesize three-dimensional objects
The inventive feature includes moving the nozzle to deposit successive layers of biomaterial at a surgical site within the patient's body to synthesize a three-dimensional object, such as an organ, bone, cartilage, ligament, tendon, or muscle. The design allows the creation of such objects inside the body using the robotic system's end effector and attached additive manufacturing device.
The claims secure protection for methods that combine robotic surgical systems and additive manufacturing devices to perform direct, intracorporeal printing of biomaterials, allowing the layer-by-layer construction of complex tissue engineering constructs at surgical sites inside a patient's body.
Stated Advantages
The device enables additive manufacturing of biomaterials directly inside the body, which reduces the need for open surgery.
It integrates with robotic surgical systems to facilitate minimally invasive, precise, and personalized tissue engineering procedures.
The slender form factor and articulation capability allow access to surgical sites through small incisions or natural orifices.
Allows fabrication of tissue constructs in clinically relevant timescales, potentially within less than two hours.
Direct write printing ensures material can be accurately metered and deposited at physiological temperatures without the need for an unobstructed optical path.
Documented Applications
Intracorporeal additive manufacturing for printing tissue engineering constructs, such as organs, tissue, bone, cartilage, ligament, tendon, or muscle, inside a patient's body during surgery.
Insertion of radiopaque marker particles to mark a region for follow-up imaging.
Delivery of radioactive particles for brachytherapy.
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