Progressive Cavity Pumps—A Comparison of New Technology for Gradient Bioprinting to Existing Extrusion Methods

Abstract

Extrusion-based Bioprinting is a key technology in biofabrication, yet the choice of extrusion method is often limited to established techniques built into most bioprinters, limiting the print fidelity and more demanding applications like printing material gradients. In this technical report we compare the emerging method of progressive cavity pump with established technologies such as pneumatic extrusion and syringe pump-based printing setups. The three methods were compared for their accuracy and precision in extruding 35% Pluronic F127, followed by test simulating different flow profiles, material dependency and ability to transfer between hardware setups. The progressive cavity pumps showed the most advantageous behavior for gradient printing, with the syringe pumps needing more iterations for stable extrusion and the pneumatic extrusion enabling high-volume extrusion but showing lower precision. This was further shown with the printing of different gradients.