Brinter Core: making 3D printing more accessible

Brinter Core is a modular and portable bioprinter that is able to print multi-material and highly complex tissue structures in 3D, providing all the basic features needed for bioprinting. The device can print both stiff and soft materials, including but not limited to liquids and hydrogels with living cells, bio-paste, metal with binder material, and plastic while being easy to pack up and set up in a different lab or cleanroom in minutes.

The market is growing strongly as accelerated technological, material, and methodological developments expand the potential applications for 3D-bioprinting. However, many institutions are unable to acquire 3D printing technology due to its price point. Brinter Core is a reasonably priced, yet capable and less space-consuming alternative that can speed up scientific development by a factor of up to 10, estimates the company.

“We really want to open up the 3D bioprinting market in a way that’s never been done before,” said Brinter CEO Tomi Kalpio. “Researchers and companies need to deliver products for 3D bioprinting, but many don’t have 3D printers with unlimited bioinks and other materials yet due to their significant cost and difficulty moving them between labs. With the Brinter Core, we make 3D bioprinting a reality and get started for those that previously were boxed out of the market,” he continued.

The benefits of 3D bioprinting range from cancer research to printing human 'spare parts' such as kidneys, hearts, or even brains. The company aims to help save more lives through more personalized treatment. For example, researchers can print 3D cancerous cells and track how they communicate with each other, allowing researchers to identify the best individual drugs to treat the disease.

Brinter Core performs many of the same functions as its predecessor, using the same printing heads, meaning upgrades are available if required. They are easily swapped between Brinter products without any tools. Available printing technologies include, for example, valve-free pneumatic extrusion (pneuma tool), screw-driven mechanical extrusion, i.e. endless piston pump (visco tool), solenoid-driven dispensing (microdroplet tool), and thermoplastic granulate extrusion (granu tool).

“Medical research facilities and universities often still rely on traditional methods of discovery in the research of new drugs, understanding diseases, and finding medical ways to help people. Drug developers are excited to get their hands on the device to do fast prototyping and testing and deliver treatments that save more lives,” said Pirkko Härkönen, counsellor, Institute of Biomedicine, MD, PhD, Professor emer.

Customers of the company include bio and pharmaceutical companies like Nanoform, as well as research organisations like VTT, BEST group at the University of Glasgow, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, the University of Oulu, University of Turku, Åbo Akademi, Tampere University, and the University of Helsinki.

To date, Brinter has raised a total of €1.2m in funding and is currently active in over 10 countries, including the US, Germany, India, and the UK.